There is widespread pessimism about the first direct peace talks in 20 months
Israeli and Palestinian leaders are to hold a second round of peace talks in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.
On Monday US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said it was time for both sides to get “down to business”.
She also reiterated that Israel should extend its partial moratorium on new settlement construction in the West Bank, which expires on 26 September.
The Palestinian Authority has said it will walk out of the negotiations if building on occupied territory resumes.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that he could not extend the moratorium, but would not allow thousands of planned homes to be built.
“We will not freeze the lives of the residents,” he said.
However, the chief Palestinian negotiator said there could be no “half solutions”.
“If it chooses any kind of settlement building, this means that it has destroyed the whole peace process and it would be fully responsible for that,” Saeb Erekat told the Associated Press.
On Tuesday, Mrs Clinton will hold separate talks with Mr Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, and then host a trilateral meeting.
Another three-way meeting will take place in Jerusalem on Wednesday.
As she flew to Egypt, Mrs Clinton said: “It’s time to get down to business.”
She also sought to counter those who say the first direct talks in 20 months are not likely to lead to a final status agreement.
“For me, this is a simple choice – no negotiations, no security, no state,” she said. “There is no prospect for success in the absence of direct negotiations.”
The secretary of state described the first round of talks in Washington on 2 September as positive, but made it clear that both the Israelis and the Palestinians now had to refrain from doing anything that could interfere with the negotiations.
This included not ending the moratorium on settlement construction, she added, echoing recent comments by President Barack Obama.
Mrs Clinton also suggested that the Palestinians could make a gesture that would help Mr Netanyahu sell an extension to the Israeli public.
“This has to be understood as an effort by both the prime minister and the president to get over the hurdle posed by the expiration of the original moratorium in order to continue negotiations,” she said.
“There are obligations on both sides to ensure that these negotiations continue.”
Senior US officials said that the settlement issue could become moot if the two sides were able to move quickly in their discussions about the borders of a future Palestinian state.
The BBC’s Kim Ghattas in Sharm el-Sheikh says it is an approach the US tried last year to encourage the Palestinians to come to the negotiating table with no success, and it is unclear if it will now help keep them there.
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