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Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton looks on as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, right, and Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shake hands as she hosts the re-launch of direct negotiations, Thursday, Sept. 2, 2010, at the State Department in Washington. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Washington - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas agreed to convene a second round of Middle East peace talks in two weeks, President Barack Obama’s special envoy for Middle East said Thursday.

Following morning meetings with Messrs. Netanyahu and Abbas, former Sen. George Mitchell told reporters the two had agreed to convene talks in the Middle East on Sept. 14 and 15, and to meet every two weeks thereafter.

The next round of talks come days before the closely watched date of Sept. 26, when Israel’s 10-month freeze on settlement-building in the West Bank is due to end. Mr. Abbas has already said he will back out of talks if the construction resumes.

Hours earlier Thursday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had launched the talks, the first direct Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations in nearly two years, imploring Arab states to back the initiative.

“To those who criticize the process…I ask you to join us in this effort,” Mrs. Clinton said from the eighth floor of the U.S. State Department, where she was flanked by Messrs. Netanyahu and Abbas. “Now is the opportunity to start contributing to progress.”

During that meeting, Mr. Netanyahu, as he did Wednesday at the White House, turned toward Mr. Abbas and called the Palestinian leader Israel’s “partner for peace.”

Mr. Abbas, meanwhile, stressed that his country’s strengthening security forces and administrative offices were prepared to safeguard Israel as part of a negotiated two-state solution.

But gaps between the Israeli and Palestinian sides were also evident during the carefully staged 30-minute opening ceremony for the long-awaited direct talks.

Mr. Netanyahu hit hard on the needs for all parties to safeguard the Jewish state’s security interests amid a growing arms buildup in the region.

He cited Iran’s growing influence across the Middle East and its funding and arming of the militant groups Hamas in the Palestinian territories and Hezbollah in Lebanon. He said Hamas’s Tuesday attack in the West Bank town of Hebron, which killed four Israeli settlers, served as an example of why Israel places a priority on security.

“Finding security is a must. Security is a foundation for peace,” Mr. Netanyahu said.

Mr. Abbas, meanwhile, stressed that Israel must end all settlement construction in disputed territories in order for the peace process to move forward.

“We call on the Israeli government to end all settlement activity and lift the siege on the Gaza strip,” Mr. Abbas said.

U.S. diplomats had been modest in their expectations for Thursday morning’s first round of talks—hoping that the Israelis and Palestinians would agree to a time and place to hold a more regular dialogue for the peace process. They also expected to agree on a general outline for the talks.

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