United States Defence Secretary Robert Gates has arrived in Israel on a visit aimed at breathing life into faltering Middle East peace talks.
The Pentagon chief's talks in Israel and Jordan coincide with high-level visits by US Middle East envoy George Mitchell and a delegation led by President Barack Obama's national security advisor, James Jones.
The round of US diplomacy with Israel comes amid tensions between the two countries and criticism from an Israeli minister over Washington's stance on Iran's nuclear power ambitions.
The minister said comments from US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton suggested Washington was "already resigned" to Iran gaining a nuclear weapon.
Mr Gates will meet Israeli ministers this week, while Mr Mitchell will meet Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
Earlier, Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak told Mr Mitchell his country is prepared to take every reasonable step towards peace with the Palestinians.
The right-wing Israeli government has refused to agree to a US demand to freeze all settlement building in the West Bank. But speaking at a news conference, Mr Barak says Israel is ready to move forward.
The US wants help from Syria in forging a deal between Israel and the Palestinians, and Mr Mitchell met President Bashar al-Assad on Sunday on his second visit to Damascus since June.
Afterwards, he said Washington has a near-term goal of restarting talks between Syria and Israel as part of the process.
Indirect talks, which were being mediated by Turkey, were suspended during an Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip in December and January.
Damascus is a big player in the region because of its support for Hamas, its backing for Hizbollah in Lebanon and its close links with Iran.
Mr Mitchell later travelled to Tel Aviv for talks with Israeli leaders and also made an unscheduled trip to Egypt.
