Originally posted by the Voice of America. Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America, a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in the public domain. Reports: US Drops Attempt to Restore Israeli Settlement Freeze VOA News 07 December 2010 Palestinian men work on a construction site in the West Bank Jewish settlement of Maale Adumim, near Jerusalem, 14 Nov 2010 Photo: AP Palestinian men work on a construction site in the West Bank Jewish settlement of Maale Adumim, near Jerusalem, 14 Nov 2010 News organizations say U.S. officials have given up attempts to convince Israel to enact a new settlement freeze as a condition for persuading Palestinians to return to direct peace talks. Unidentified officials were quoted saying Tuesday that the Obama administration had decided that pushing for a renewal of the moratorium was not the best way to restart the U.S.-mediated talks. Direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians stalled after Israel's 10-month partial freeze on West Bank settlement building expired in late September. Palestinians oppose Israeli construction in territory they want as part of a future state. They say they will not return to direct talks with Israel while new construction is under way.  Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters. NEW: Follow our Middle East stories on [1]Twitter and discuss them on our [2]Facebook page. References 1. http://twitter.com/VOAMidEast 2. http://www.facebook.com/pages/VOAMiddleEastVoices/124360240958667? v=wall .