Netanyahu firm on Jerusalem as U.S. envoy returns

U.S. mediator George Mitchell flew in for his first shuttle talks since Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned a month ago from a low-profile meeting with President Barack Obama that underscored a rift between the two leaders.

Netanyahu still has not responded publicly to what political sources have said was a list of 11 “confidence-building” steps Obama wants him to take to coax the Palestinians back into negotiations suspended since December 2008.

But Netanyahu has rebuffed U.S. and Palestinian calls to halt the construction of homes for Jews on occupied land in and near Jerusalem, referring to those areas as Israeli neighborhoods no different than those in Tel Aviv.