Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu travels next month to Washington where he could meet President Barack Obama on the sidelines of an annual Jewish forum, his office said on Friday, AFP reported.
Netanyahu will be in the United States from November 8-10 to address the annual assembly of major North American Jewish organisations, and Obama has also been invited to attend the forum, the premier's office said.
"There is a good chance that the two leaders will take the opportunity to meet" on the sidelines of the conference, an official from Netanyahu's office said.
Obama has been pressing Israel and the Palestinians to overcome differences and resume deadlocked peace negotiations, and also put pressure on Netanyahu and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas at three-way talks in September.
But despite Obama's efforts and repeated visits to the region by his special envoy George Mitchell, the two sides remain far apart.
On Thursday US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gave a downbeat report to Obama on the situation.
"The secretary advised the president that challenges remain as the United States continues to work with both sides to relaunch negotiations in an atmosphere in which they can succeed," an Obama administration official said.
Clinton did stress that some minor progress had been achieved, but added that much work needed to be done by both sides, the official said, on condition of anonymity.
Peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians have been frozen since Israel's devastating end-of-year offensive on the Gaza Strip.
Israeli PM to visit US in November, could meet Obama
