Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak on Thursday to pressure the Palestinians to engage in direct negotiations with Israel, during the two's meeting in the Red Sea resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh.
The Prime Minister's Bureau said that Netanyahu emphasized to Mubarak that a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinian Authority is possible as long as there is a will amongst Palestinians to end the conflict.
Netanyahu asked Mubarak to pressure Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to enter intensive and serious direct negotiations with Israel, focusing on all the core issues, as soon as possible.
Mubarak, however, told Netanyahu that Israel needs to revise its position over peace talks and settlement-building to reach a final accord with the Palestinians.
Netanyahu has said Israel took the necessary steps to restore negotiations to no avail. Mubarak blamed Israel for the collapse of the talks and urged Washington to reinvigorate the process.
Mubarak said Israel must "revise its position and policy and embark on tangible procedures ... to reach a final settlement, not in stages or temporary, that ends the occupation and establishes an independent Palestinian state," said a statement issued by Mubarak's spokesman after the meeting.
U.S.-sponsored talks in September fizzled after three weeks when Israel refused to extend a partial 10-month freeze on West Bank settlements, spurring the Palestinians' decision to walk out.
Netanyahu said in December an interim Israeli-Palestinian peace deal could be an outcome if the parties fail to reach agreement on core "final status" issues.
"Israel offered goodwill initiatives, concessions and has taken wide steps to convince Palestinians to resume negotiations, but unfortunately the Palestinian side refuses either direct or indirect talks," said Ofir Gendelman, Netanyahu's spokesman.
The status of Jerusalem, the borders of a future Palestinian state and the fate of Palestinian refugees are core issues that Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas would have to resolve to reach a peace deal.
Mubarak said Egypt "opposed any new aggression" against Gaza, warning that any attack, suggested by "Israel's latest threats," would imperil the peace process, the statement said.
Violence has escalated in recent weeks along the volatile frontier, although both Israel and Gaza's Islamist Hamas rulers say they are working to avoid a full-blown confrontation.