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Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in Washington today for a series of meetings at the White House. He'll hold one-on-one talks with US president Barack Obama before a "working lunch" with Obama, vice president Joseph Biden, and several other officials.

Obama's top priority during these talks will almost certainly be pushing for an extension to Israel's temporary West Bank settlement freeze, which is due to expire in September. The end of the freeze would forestall any possibility of direct talks between the Israelis ri the Palestinians.

"There has been a distinct improvement in the White House relationship with Israel since the last meeting" between Obama and Netanyahu on March 23, said Jonathan Spyer, a political scientist at Israel's Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya. "Obama will be looking for a payback," perhaps in the form of an extension to the settlement freeze, Spyer said.

But from Netanyahu's perspective, the domestic politics of extending the freeze are... difficult, to say the least. His administration has nothing to show for the current freeze: Israeli-Palestinian "proximity talks" have yielded little concrete progress, save for a rumored land swap proposal offered by Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas.

I was cautiously encouraged when I read that Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu had agreed to freeze new construction in Ramot Shlomo. PJ Crowley, the State Department spokesman, announced the decision this afternoon, and Netanyahu confirmed it tonight, according to Israeli media reports.

Sources close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded to the American announcement later Sunday, confirming that the housing project intended for the Ramat Shlomo neighborhood would not be built in the coming two years.

Encouraging news, right? The approval of 1,600 new homes in Ramot Shlomo sparked an uproar when it was announced two months ago; Netanyahu would be making a meaningful concession by freezing that construction.

Well, they've officially started. I'll spare you a long post on the subject -- I've written too much about proximity talks this year as it is -- but three quick points:

How long will the talks run? I've heard several different timeframes, but the most common number is four months -- that's how long Palestinian officials are willing to give the talks.

What will they discuss? Borders seem the most likely issue, but Benjamin Netanyahu wants to talk about interim borders, Mahmoud Abbas wants final borders, and neither man seems willing to budge. If they don't discuss borders, I really have no idea what will be on the agenda. Small confidence-building measures -- releasing prisoners, for example -- won't be enough to lead to direct talks.

Could they stall early? Absolutely. The most likely reason is more construction in East Jerusalem. Palestinian officials have been clear that they're counting on the U.S. to preempt any "surprises"; if there's another Ramot Shlomo-esque announcement, the talks are probably dead.

Finally, not to be the skunk at the garden party, but a question: Israel-PA talks are great, but what about Hamas? What about Gaza?

That's sort of a rhetorical question: They're not!

George Mitchell, the Obama administration's Middle East envoy, is back in the region meeting with Israeli and Palestinian officials. The proximity talks were supposed to start today, but they've been postponed until after a PLO executive committee meeting on Saturday.

The Obama administration is counting on a carefully-timed sequence of events to jump-start "proximity talks" between the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority.

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas will present a formal proposal for indirect talks when the Arab League's peace process committee meets on May 1. The Arab League already endorsed the talks early last month, but withdrew its support just over a week later after Israel approved new construction in Ramot Shlomo.

The U.S.-Israel spat is winding down. The White House insists there's no crisis in bilateral relations; George Mitchell is scheduled to arrive in Israel tomorrow; congressional leaders (with a few exceptions) say the public fighting should end. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will deliver a speech at the AIPAC conference on Monday morning, and her remarks will almost certainly mark the end of the Ramot Shlomo kerfuffle.

Who came out ahead? Ethan Bronner tries to answer that question in the New York Times, and points out that both sides are declaring victory -- Obama, because he received a few guarantees from Israel; Netanyahu, because he didn't have to compromise on Jerusalem.

U.S. vice president Joe Biden is wrapping up his Middle East trip with a visit to Petra, in Jordan. A little sightseeing might be a welcome relief after a tumultuous week in Jerusalem and Ramallah.

The phrase "turning point" is grossly overused, but this week really feels like a watershed in the region -- and not at all in a good way. Few observers had high hopes for the Israeli-Palestinian proximity talks, but now even that modest dialogue appears off the table. The announcement that Israel is planning another 50,000 homes in East Jerusalem will poison any future talks: How can the Palestinian side negotiate when tens of thousands of illegal homes are considered non-negotiable?

Joe Biden's harsh condemnation of the new construction at Ramot Shlomo -- but the timing of the announcement still made the United States look weak and unwilling to confront Israel.

We'd like to blog about Joe Biden's Tel Aviv speech, but the White House still hasn't e-mailed a transcript to reporters (perhaps because it was undergoing some last-minute revisions?).

News reports say Biden urged Israel and the Palestinians to begin proximity talks without delay. But they're already in doubt: The Arab League held an emergency meeting in Cairo last night (عربي), and decided to withdraw its support for the talks because of the new construction in Ramot Shlomo.

Israel's interior minister, Eli Yishai, has apologized for the announcement of 1,600 new homes in East Jerusalem's Ramot Shlomo neighborhood while U.S. vice president Joe Biden is in Israel -- though not for the decision itself.

Evan added some details overnight to my post on Israel's latest West Bank settlement construction, including a statement from State Department spokesman PJ Crowley. State belatedly sent reporters a full transcript of Crowley's remarks -- and, as Evan said, it's pretty lukewarm stuff.

President Obama's special envoy to the Middle East, George Mitchell, arrived in Ramallah last night to begin "pre-talks" to the "proximity talks" the United States hopes will occur between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, the National reports. You'll be hard pressed to find anyone who has much faith in their ultimate success.

My suspicion is that the Palestinian Authority views "proximity talks" as a test for the Obama administration's willingness to impose consequences on Israel. PA officials have hinted at using the talks to "reveal Israel's true intentions to the world."

And the administration seems to understand that dynamic: Ha'aretz reports this morning that Washington "will assign blame" if the talks fall apart.

The Arab League -- meeting today in Cairo -- voted to endorse "proximity talks" between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. American mediators, presumably led by George Mitchell, will shuttle between Jerusalem and Ramallah.

As a postscript to last week's, uh, post about Salam Fayyad's Herzliya speech, Abdel Bari Atwan has an absolutely savage column (عربي) in today's Al-Quds Al-Arabi. For Arabic speakers, the whole thing is worth a read -- it does a good job capturing the disconnect between the Palestinian Authority's official position on peace talks and the Palestinian public's opinion.

The Palestinian Authority either accepted George Mitchell's proposal for "proximity talks," or is close to accepting, according to Israeli and Arab news outlets.

Ha'aretz reports today that Mahmoud Abbas "agreed in principle" to the talks, according to unnamed Palestinian sources. The talks will reportedly resume later this month, with Mitchell ferrying messages between negotiating teams in separate rooms.

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas is considering George Mitchell's offer for "proximity talks" with Israel, and plans to issue a final response on Thursday, according to an interview with The Guardian.