Israel envoy to discuss reviving peace talks in US

An envoy of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will travel to Washington next week to discuss ways to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, a statement from Netanyahu's office said.

"(Netanyahu's representative) Yitzhak Molcho and a Palestinian representative will travel to Washington next week with the aim of advancing the diplomatic process," the statement said.

When asked, a spokesman for Netanyahu declined to comment whether Molcho would meet his Palestinian counterpart.

Palestinian officials in the West Bank town of Ramallah said they were unaware that any Palestinian official would be travelling to the United States to discuss peacemaking efforts next week.

Direct US-backed peace talks stalled three months ago with the expiry of a 10-month partial Israeli moratorium on settlement building in the occupied West Bank. All efforts to find a formula to restart them have so far failed.