Saying last week's launch of the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations "exceeded lots of people's expectations," Obama looked to the September 26 expiration of the partial freeze on new Jewish housing in the West Bank as a key hurdle.

"A major bone of contention during the course of this month is going to be the potential lapse of the settlement moratorium," Obama told a White House press conference.

He said he had told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House last week that, "given so far the talks are moving forward in a constructive way, it makes sense to extend that moratorium."

Obama said he also told Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas -- who was in Washington last week for the negotiations launched by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton -- to give Netanyahu room to maneuver.

He urged Abbas to "show the Israeli public that you are serious and constructive in these talks so that the politics for prime minister Netanyahu, if he were to extend the settlement moratorium, would be a little bit easier."

Israeli officials have indicated that they will not extend the freeze as is, but the Palestinians have warned that they would break off the new talks if settlement building continues on occupied land.

Obama sounded cautiously optimistic as Clinton was due in Egypt and Israel next week for round two of the first direct talks to be held since December 2008 when Israel launched a three-week war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

"I remain hopeful but this is going to be tough," Obama said.

The president said Netanyahu and Abbas came to the White House talks "with a sense of purpose and seriousness and cordiality that frankly exceeded lots of people's expectations."

He recalled that the two leaders last week affirmed the goal of creating two states living side-by-side and agreed to hold negotiations roughly every two weeks.

But he added: "There are enormous hurdles between now and our end point, and they're going to be a whole bunch of folks in the region who want to undermine these negotiations."

Last week, Hamas launched two attacks against settlers in the West Bank, killing four Israelis and wounding two others.

Asked if he personally is willing to step in if the talks grind to a halt, Obama said his administration will encourage and facilitate the negotiations, even though the parties must ultimately decide on peace.

He said the two sides "need each other," with the Palestinians seeking a state of their own and Israel wanting to preserve its character as both a Jewish and democratic state.

He said he understood it was "a risk for us to promote" the new peace talks but "it's a risk worth taking because the alternative is a status quo that is unsustainable."

Refusing to accept failure, Obama pledged: "If these talks break down, we're going to keep on trying."

Many analysts say deep US engagement is vital to the success of the negotiations, adding that such talks have failed in past when US administrations were reluctant to intervene.

Obama said a goal he has set for himself and his team is to help Netanyahu and Abbas establish mutual trust and "start thinking about how can they help the other succeed as opposed to" finding ways to sabotage each other.

Obama said a peace settlement offers the potential to "change the strategic landscape in the Middle East" in a way that helps Washington deal with Iran's suspect nuclear program and its alleged support for militant groups.

"We're not just doing this to feel good. We're doing it because it will help secure America as well," the president said.

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