JERUSALEM: US Secretary of State John Kerry admitted yesterday there was skepticism and cynicism about his bid to broker new talks between Israelis and Palestinians on his fourth visit to the region.

Flying in from a night of diplomacy in Amman over the war in Syria, Kerry went straight into talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu before traveling to the West Bank to meet Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas.

Despite public pronouncements of support, there is a growing frustration that there has been little sign of a shift in the long-held positions of both sides.

“There are ideological differences at the heart of the government,” said Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, who is also Israel’s top peace negotiator.

The lack of talks “only serves the interests of those who think that each passing day (without a peace agreement) allows them to build a new house,” she told public radio, referring to Jewish settlement building.

But after Kerry and Netanyahu talked for some two hours — half of it alone — Livni said time was of the essence.

“I know this region well enough to know there is skepticism, in some quarters there is cynicism and there are reasons for it. There have been bitter years of disappointment,” he said. But he insisted: “It is our hope that by being methodical, careful, patient, but detailed and tenacious, that we can lay on a path ahead that can conceivably surprise people and certainly exhaust the possibilities for peace.”

Kerry then went to Ramallah to meet with Abbas — also for more than two hours and again the two men held a long tete-a-tete.

And in a powerful message to Palestinians who are used to just seeing American motorcades sweep by into Abbas’s high-walled headquarters compound, Kerry went for a stroll along a Ramallah street.

Under the watchful eye of his security men, he stopped at the popular Samer’s restaurant for a turkey shawarma sandwich, and then walked across the street to the restaurant’s sweet shop to sample traditional Palestinian sweetmeats.

Sipping a strong Arabic coffee, Kerry discussed peace with the owner, who said in English: “We hope for a peaceful country with all these attacks around us” and thanked him for visiting the West Bank.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague, also visiting Israel, backed Kerry’s efforts. “The Middle East peace process is... an urgent priority for the United Kingdom and to the world,” he said.