Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expects no breakthroughs in a meeting this week with a US peace envoy, though he hopes talks with the Palestinians can resume within two months, a spokesman said.

Netanyahu, a right-winger in power since March, has resisted Western pressure to freeze Jewish settlements on occupied land where Palestinians seek statehood. The dispute has opened a rare rift between Israel and its top ally, the United States.

Speaking ahead of a European visit during which Netanyahu was scheduled to meet US envoy George Mitchell, spokesman Nir Hefetz told reporters: "The prime minister expects there to be a certain degree of progress, but no breakthrough is expected."

Hefetz said Netanyahu, who will also meet British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, would make clear that Israel would "attend to the normal needs" of its settlers "alongside a political process that is to be launched in about two months' time."