( CNN ) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu , who has stopped well short of agreeing to a continued freeze on building Israeli settlements in the disputed West Bank territory , indicated Sunday he might be willing to compromise . The settlements issue is a major sticking point between Israel and the Palestinian Authority , which recently resumed direct peace talks for the first time since 2008 . `` I do n't know if there will be a comprehensive freeze , '' said Netanyahu , according to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz . `` But I also do n't know if it is necessary to construct all of the 20,000 housing units waiting to be built . In any case , between zero and one there are a lot of possibilities , '' Haaretz reported the prime minister said at a weekly cabinet meeting . Last year , Israel instituted a 10-month moratorium on building Israeli settlements in the West Bank . Netanyahu is under pressure from the Palestinians and the from the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama to extend the freeze , which is currently set to expire toward the end of September . Netanyahu 's conservative coalition government wants the prime minister to end the moratorium . Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Netanyahu met in Washington for direct talks earlier this month . The two pledged in front of the cameras to move the peace process forward , but privately were said to have gotten stuck on the question of whether the Israeli settlements should continue . Abbas and Netanyahu are scheduled for a meeting Tuesday in Egypt , where U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and George Mitchell , the U.S. special envoy for Middle East peace , are also expected to attend . Netanyahu said that if all sides are serious in their efforts , it would be possible to arrive at a framework for lasting peace within the year . `` Just as we are asked to recognize the Palestinian national state ... we also demand and expect the Palestinians to recognize a Jewish state , the State of Israel , as the national state of the Jewish People . This is the true foundation of peace , '' he said .
Netanyahu under pressure to extend 10-month moratorium on building in Egypt . The settlements issue has emerged as a major sticking point in peace negotiations . Netanyahu and Abbas are scheduled for a meeting the end of September in West Bank .