As the backers of the so-called Geneva Initiative headed for the cool airs of Switzerland, top US envoy William Burns was locked in a second day of talks here with Israeli officials, trying to persuade them to meet their obligations laid out in the roadmap.

The initiative is due to be officially unveiled in a glitzy ceremony presided over by Hollywood movie star Richard Dreyfuss and attended by the likes of former US President Jimmy Carter and one-time Polish president Lech Walesa.

But a new poll released Monday showed that the accord enjoys the support of just 31 percent of the Israeli public while the influential Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz said Monday that it was a non-starter.

"The Geneva Initiative does not fit into the roadmap, therefore the Israeli government considers the roadmap as the only basis for talks with the Palestinians," Mofaz told military radio ahead of a meeting with Burns.

But former Israeli justice minister Yossi Beilin, one of the main driving forces behind the initiative, said before departing Monday that Geneva should not be seen as contradicting the roadmap.

"The Geneva Initiative will not be accepted by Washington but it will help to implement the roadmap," Beilin, who is expected to travel to Washington later this week, told military radio.

"We will present them (the Americans) with our thoughts and considerations -- the way to integrate the Geneva Initiative with the roadmap. The Geneva Initiative is not the Bible. Every detail, every word does not have to treated as gospel."

The Geneva accord aims to address many of the most contentious issues of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and is much more detailed than the roadmap.

Under its terms, Israel would have to relinquish most of the West Bank and share sovereignty over Jerusalem, while the Palestinians would effectively waive the right of return of 3.8 million refugees.

While the Israeli government has squarely set itself against the project, the Palestinian leadership's stance has been marked by ambivalence.