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Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, currently in Amman, was also to fly to New York on Sunday evening for the annual sitting, with efforts under way to arrange a meeting with US President Barack Obama, a senior Palestinian official told AFP.
"There are also preparations for a meeting between (Israeli premier Benjamin) Netanyahu, Obama and Abbas," he said. "There is an expectation that they will meet."
Netanyahu's office said he had no plans to fly to the United States this week, and would not say whether he would meet Abbas before the settlement freeze expires later this month.
Israel and the Palestinians began long-awaited peace negotiations earlier this month, but the talks may well collapse if the two sides fail to resolve a bitter dispute over the moratorium's expiry.
So far, Israel has stubbornly refused to extend the partial 10-month ban on new construction. The Palestinians have vowed to pull out of the talks if building resumes.
Addressing ministers after Sunday's weekly cabinet meeting, Netanyahu reiterated Israel's position: that the moratorium will end as planned.
"Last week, I held political talks in (the Red Sea resort of) Sharm el-Sheikh and Jerusalem. I can't give any detail about the content of the talks because of its sensitivity. What I can say is that regarding the freeze, there has been no change in our position," he said.
Last week's talks, which brought together Abbas, Netanyahu and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, failed to break the impasse.
Clinton said on Sunday she hoped the Israeli leader would relent and extend the freeze.
"Well, that certainly is our hope," she told ABC News.
"It's been in effect for the time that it was set for, and the talks are just starting," she said. "So we are working hard to make sure there remains a conducive atmosphere to constructive thought."
But Israel's ultra-nationalist Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Sunday it was up to Netanyahu to withstand pressure to extend the moratorium.
"There is no doubt that there is massive pressure, but that is the role of leaders: to stand up to this pressure," he told army radio.
"If we aren't able to withstand pressure on a relatively simple issue like building in Judaea and Samaria (the West Bank), how will we defend our other national interests?" he said.
"We said it would be a 10-month freeze and we told everyone. The minute it's over, we can start (building) again."
The deadline for the end of the freeze is widely accepted as September 26, exactly 10 months and a day after the original cabinet decision. However, the military order regarding the moratorium states it will only draw to a close at midnight on September 30.
Efforts to reach a last-minute compromise now look set to shift to the United States.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, an Israeli official told AFP the main negotiators would meet there this week in order to set up the next leaders' meeting.
"The negotiators will be meeting this week in North America where they will be planning the next round of talks at a leadership level," he said, without giving further details.
Elsewhere, Barak, who reportedly backs an extension of the freeze, was set to meet with Clinton and with US Defence Secretary Robert Gates during his five-day trip.
And Peres was expected on Monday to address the UN's millennium summit in a speech explaining why Netanyahu could not extend the settlement freeze, the Jerusalem Post reported.
He was also expected to speak alongside Palestinian premier Salam Fayyad at a conference organised by former US president Bill Clinton, which Barak would also attend.
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"There are also preparations for a meeting between (Israeli premier Benjamin) Netanyahu, Obama and Abbas," he said. "There is an expectation that they will meet."
Netanyahu's office said he had no plans to fly to the United States this week, and would not say whether he would meet Abbas before the settlement freeze expires later this month.
Israel and the Palestinians began long-awaited peace negotiations earlier this month, but the talks may well collapse if the two sides fail to resolve a bitter dispute over the moratorium's expiry.
So far, Israel has stubbornly refused to extend the partial 10-month ban on new construction. The Palestinians have vowed to pull out of the talks if building resumes.
Addressing ministers after Sunday's weekly cabinet meeting, Netanyahu reiterated Israel's position: that the moratorium will end as planned.
"Last week, I held political talks in (the Red Sea resort of) Sharm el-Sheikh and Jerusalem. I can't give any detail about the content of the talks because of its sensitivity. What I can say is that regarding the freeze, there has been no change in our position," he said.
Last week's talks, which brought together Abbas, Netanyahu and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, failed to break the impasse.
Clinton said on Sunday she hoped the Israeli leader would relent and extend the freeze.
"Well, that certainly is our hope," she told ABC News.
"It's been in effect for the time that it was set for, and the talks are just starting," she said. "So we are working hard to make sure there remains a conducive atmosphere to constructive thought."
But Israel's ultra-nationalist Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Sunday it was up to Netanyahu to withstand pressure to extend the moratorium.
"There is no doubt that there is massive pressure, but that is the role of leaders: to stand up to this pressure," he told army radio.
"If we aren't able to withstand pressure on a relatively simple issue like building in Judaea and Samaria (the West Bank), how will we defend our other national interests?" he said.
"We said it would be a 10-month freeze and we told everyone. The minute it's over, we can start (building) again."
The deadline for the end of the freeze is widely accepted as September 26, exactly 10 months and a day after the original cabinet decision. However, the military order regarding the moratorium states it will only draw to a close at midnight on September 30.
Efforts to reach a last-minute compromise now look set to shift to the United States.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, an Israeli official told AFP the main negotiators would meet there this week in order to set up the next leaders' meeting.
"The negotiators will be meeting this week in North America where they will be planning the next round of talks at a leadership level," he said, without giving further details.
Elsewhere, Barak, who reportedly backs an extension of the freeze, was set to meet with Clinton and with US Defence Secretary Robert Gates during his five-day trip.
And Peres was expected on Monday to address the UN's millennium summit in a speech explaining why Netanyahu could not extend the settlement freeze, the Jerusalem Post reported.
He was also expected to speak alongside Palestinian premier Salam Fayyad at a conference organised by former US president Bill Clinton, which Barak would also attend.
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