RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP)— Israel will not accept conditions for resuming direct negotiations with the Palestinians, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and top Cabinet ministers affirmed in a meeting late Sunday, reflecting a hard line just as invitations to the talks appeared to be near.

The Palestinians want the framework and agenda of negotiations worked out ahead of time.
Under an emerging compromise, the so-called Quartet of Mideast mediators — the United States, the United Nations, the European Union and Russia — was expected to issue an invitation for direct talks that would list underlying principles and a time frame.
However, Netanyahu and his inner circle fear that a Quartet statement would be a “fig leaf for Palestinian preconditions,” said an official in Netanyahu's office who spoke on condition of anonymity because no government statement was made.
In a meeting late Sunday, the prime minister and his top ministers decided to hold out for a separate invitation from the United States without preconditions, the official said.