Jerusalem - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denied Monday that he had set a new precondition for starting peace talks with the Palestinians.

Israeli media had widely quoted Netanyahu as telling George Mitchell, US President Barack Obama's envoy to the Middle East, last week that the Palestinians must recognize Israel as a Jewish state before peace negotiations can resume.

Jerusalem - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas telephoned new Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Sunday, and urged him to work with the Palestinian Authority in search of peace. A statement issued by Netanyahu's office said the Palestinian leader had called the premier to congratulate him on the occasion of the Passover holiday.

Netanyahu, the statement said, told Abbas he intended resuming the cooperation they had in the past.

Netanyahu, leader of the hawkish Likud Party, was sworn in as premier on March 31.

Jerusalem  - Israel will set its peace agenda in the next few weeks, new Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday as he opened the first cabinet meeting of his government.

"In the coming weeks we will complete the formulation of our policy to advance peace and security," he told the ministers at the weekly cabinet session in Jerusalem.

The cabinet, sworn in last Tuesday night, also appointed a 12-man inner cabinet, which will take decisions on political and security matters.

The world hammered home a unified message Wednesday to Israel's newly-minted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, insisting that he pursue the "two-state solution" as part of his stated commitment to the Middle East peace process.

From the United Nations to London, from Washington to Brussels, to Israel's own President Shimon Peres, the congratulatory statements were laced with the same message: the road map to peace must lead to a separate state for the Palestinians alongside Israel.

Gaza City/Cairo  - As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu formally took office at the helm of a government dominated by hardline parties on Wednesday, delegates from 13 Palestinian factions resumed talks on forming a "national unity" government in Cairo.

In this, the third round of Egyptian-brokered Palestinian talks, negotiators will try to hash out the political platform of the national unity government, lay out preparations for presidential and legislative elections and determine the composition and control of Palestinian security forces, representatives from Fatah and Hamas said.