US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, left, shakes hands with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, right, in Jerusalem, 3 May 2008

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is meeting Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert Monday before returning to Washington.

The breakfast session is the second meeting for the two since Rice arrived in Israel late Saturday.

Following Rice's departure, Mr. Olmert is scheduled for talks over lunch with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. The divisive issues of settlements and roadblocks are likely to be on the agenda.

Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said Sunday that Israel may uproot some Jewish settlements in the West Bank as part of a peace deal with the Palestinians.

Livni said that settlements are not an obstacle to peace because Israel has previously dismantled such communities when there was a need to do so.

Livni denied that Israeli construction in West Bank settlements is an attempt to grab land ahead of a peace deal, saying that Israel has "no hidden agenda."

The comments followed Livni's talks with the U.S. Secretary of State.  Earlier, Rice met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

Mr. Abbas accuses Israel of undermining peace talks by expanding settlements in areas that Palestinians want for a state.

Secretary Rice also pressed Israeli leaders Sunday to dismantle West Bank security checkpoints that disrupt the life of Palestinians. She said Washington is interested not just in the quantity of roadblocks Israel removes, but also in the quality of Israeli steps to improve the everyday lives of Palestinians.

Israel promised to remove about 60 West Bank barriers during Rice's last visit to the region in March. But, the Palestinians say many of the roadblocks Israel dismantled were minor barriers that had little impact on Palestinians' daily lives.

Rice is trying to advance efforts to secure an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal by the end of the year.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP, and Reuters.