Netanyahu was expected to meet Biden at about 1:30 pm (1730 GMT) on the sidelines of a summit of Jewish organisations, US officials said, in what will be the first top-level talks on the peace process since the Democrats suffered major losses in last week's mid-term elections.

"I hope that on this visit, we and the US administration will find the way to advance the diplomatic process while maintaining Israel's national and security interests," the Israeli leader was quoted as saying before departing, in a statement from his office.

Netanyahu was to address the General Assembly of the Jewish Federations of North America on Monday morning before heading to New York where he will meet UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, his office said.

Later in the week, he would meet the US ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, as well as senior figures on Wall Street and in the media.

On Thursday, he is to hold talks with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on before flying back to Israel.

"I am looking forward to important meetings with US Vice President Biden and US Secretary of State Clinton, who share in the great efforts that we are making in order to continue the peace process," Netanyahu said.

"I will also speak about this, and other issues, with UN Secretary General Ki-moon, US UN Ambassador Rice and others."

Peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians were relaunched in Washington on September 2 but broke down barely three weeks later with the expiry of an Israeli moratorium on settlement construction in the occupied West Bank.

Netanyahu has stubbornly refused to reimpose the restrictions, despite a range of US incentives to do so, and the Palestinians have said they will not return to the negotiating table while Israel builds on land they want for a future state.

US-led diplomatic efforts to unblock the process have been unfruitful, although the administration is expected to step up pressure on both sides after the mid-term US elections.

In early October, Arab League foreign ministers said they would give Washington a month's grace period to break the impasse, but last week extended that until the end of the month, a Palestinian official told AFP on Friday.

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