Israel's prime minister and U.S. President Barack Obama's Mideast point man met Wednesday to discuss planned peace talks with the Palestinians, an Israeli government official said.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. special envoy George Mitchell held a three-hour working session and plan to meet again Thursday, National Information Directorate head Nir Hefetz said. The two met one on one and with diplomats from the United States and Israel.

They hope to kick off "proximity talks," or indirect talks, with the United States shuttling between the Israelis and Palestinians in an effort to restart direct talks between the two sides. Mitchell is expected to huddle with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Saturday.

After the Wednesday meeting, State Department spokesman P. J. Crowley quoted Mitchell as saying the session was "good and productive." Asked for specifics, Crowley said he had none.

Mitchell, he added, "keeps ... particulars to himself."

"I don't have a particular readout from George Mitchell today," Crowley told reporters. "We're going to have multiple meetings on the Israeli side and multiple meetings on the Palestinian side. It's hard to characterize, after one of a series of meetings, where we are."