US President Barack Obama and top Israeli officials staked out sharply opposing positions over the explosive issue of Jewish settlements on Thursday, propelling a rare dispute between the two close allies into full public view just days before Obama is due to deliver a long-awaited address in Egypt to the world's Muslims.

Speaking after a White House meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Obama reiterated that he had been “very clear about the need to stop building settlements, to stop building outposts" on Palestinian territory.

Only hours earlier, the Israeli government said it would continue to allow some growth in the settler communities in the West Bank.

The exchange underscored the unusually hard-line position Obama has taken publicly with Israel early in his administration. Most US presidents, aware of the political sensitivity, have worked hard to keep disagreements out of sight, when they existed.

The back and forth also added a contentious note to the start of a grueling period of Middle East peace talks that the White House has pledged to aggressively pursue. And it comes as Obama prepares his speech scheduled for next week that is aimed at repairing US ties with the Muslim world.

The verbal disagreement with Israel defied expectations of US and Israeli officials, as well as many analysts, who had predicted that the new American president and the newer conservative Israeli prime minister would seek a pragmatic way to avoid public clashes. But since Obama met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House 11 days ago, the contrasts have steadily risen in public view.

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