Push continues for Mideast talks

JERUSALEM (AP) - Israel and the Palestinians appeared likely to resume American-mediated indirect peace talks despite a flap over east Jerusalem construction.

But hopes for results remain dim. There's virtually no expectation here that hard-line Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu can reach a deal with the Palestinians that eluded his more dovish Israeli predecessors.

Meeting in Moscow on Friday, the so-called Quartet of Mideast peacemakers, which includes the United States, Russia, European Union and United nations, called on Israel and the Palestinians to return to negotiations with a goal of reaching a peace deal that would create a Palestinian state within two years.

In a strongly worded statement read by U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, the Quartet reiterated its condemnation of Israeli construction in disputed east Jerusalem, promised to monitor developments there closely and renewed its call for a complete halt of all settlement activity.