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Last update - 22:33 06/09/2009
Netanyahu: Israel to reach deal with U.S. on settlements this week
By Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondent
Tags: West Bank, Benjamin Netanyahu 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Israel would likely reach a deal with the United States this week regarding settlement activity in the West Bank.

Netanyahu told Likud ministers that he would finalize a plan with U.S. special Mideast envoy George Mitchell during the latter's visit to the region.

Meanwhile, Defense Minister Ehud Barak was expected Sunday night to sign partial approval for 500 new housing units to be constructed in the West Bank, and authorize the rest the following morning.
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The new units were to be constructed in six settlement blocs, including Har Gilo, Upper Modi'in and Ariel.

Netanyahu announced late last week that he intends to approve the construction of the new housing units in the settlements before the suspension of building takes effect, a declaration that drew criticism from the international community.

The prime minister held talks with several Likud cabinet ministers and Knesset members over the weekend, in an attempt to persuade them to support a freeze on construction in the West Bank settlements.

The security cabinet met on Sunday to continue its preparation for Mitchell's arrival later this week.

Ministers and MKs who spoke with Netanyahu and his associates told Haaretz that the prime minister showed them the final agreement reached with the U.S. administration on suspending settlement construction.

A source in the Prime Minister's Office said Netanyahu did not use the word "moratorium" or "freeze," opting instead to describe the proposed measure as "reducing the scale of construction."

Netanyahu's announcement that he would approve new settlement construction before the suspension of building takes effect drew criticism from the international community.

The European Union and Britain both slammed the declaration and reiterated their calls for a total settlement freeze.

The White House also criticized the announcement saying: "Continued settlement activity is inconsistent with Israel's commitment under the road map."

The White House added that the administration of President Barack Obama "does not accept the legitimacy of continued settlement expansion and we urge that it stop. We are working to create a climate in which negotiations can take place, and such actions make it harder to create such a climate."

In response to a reporter's question, the White House spokesman said that the U.S. had been informed of Netanyahu's intention to proceed with new construction in the West Bank.

State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said Mitchell and the Israelis had been having "a very open dialogue" in "very intense discussions." He would not elaborate.

But one U.S. official familiar with Mitchell's meeting last week in New York with Netanyahu envoy Yitzhak Molcho said the Israelis "told Mitchell they were going to [continue construction] and he told them they could expect a sharp response."

Deputy PM: Settlement freeze is 'strategic delay'


Deputy Prime Minister Eli Yishai called the planned freeze in settlement construction a "strategic delay," implying the move would not be a long-term Israeli policy.

"The postponement in construction is a strategic delay," said Yishai at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting. "We won't give up on building in Jerusalem and will still build hundreds of construction units. We are looking ahead, here."

Yishai, who is also the interior minister and the head of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, added: "Over the past two decades, the Palestinians violated all the agreements. We don't see Abu Mazen leading toward a peace deal."

The minister was using the nom de guerre of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who said last week that he would not engage in peace talks with Netanyahu unless Israel completely halt settlement construction.

U.S. President Barack Obama has also been pressuring Netanyahu to agree to a settlement freeze; Israeli envoys flew to New York last week to discuss a possible deal on the matter.

National Infrastructure Minister Uzi Landau, of the rightist Yisrael Beiteinu, stressed his opposition to the proposed move at the meeting Sunday. "We mustn't speak about the freeze at all," he said.

"There is neither political wisdom nor diplomatic wisdom in this. The Bar Ilan speech will just result in the radicalization of the Palestinians. The prime minister didn't speak with me and didn't explain to me the plan, and I don't know exactly what it is."

Landau was referring to Netanyahu's first policy speech delivered in June, in which he supported the establishment of a demilitarized Palestinian state on the condition that the Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish state.

Social Affairs Minister Isaac Herzog, meanwhile, called on the opposition Kadima party and rebels within his own Labor to support Netanyahu in his talks with the United States, Israel Radio reported. But he added that if Netanyahu is only "wasting time," Labor would reach the necessary conclusions.

Settlers to step up protests

Meanwhile, settlers are planning to step up their protests against the construction freeze, irrespective of Netanyahu's announcement of approval for hundreds of new homes in the settlements.

Settler leaders said 500 housing units will be built in places such as Givat Ze'ev, Ma'aleh Adumim and Beitar Ilit, where demand is enormous, and in Gush Etzion.

"The demand is for hundreds of housing units in each of these communities, not just a few hundred in total. The construction will probably take place to the east of the fence," according to Danny Dayan, chairman of the Yesha Council.

"A freeze has enormous political implications which are no less than a catastrophe for the settlement enterprise. Freezing construction in Ma'aleh Adumim, Gush Etzion, Beitar, what are called the 'settlement blocs,' places them clearly on the negotiating table. Why would the state freeze construction in areas that are not open for negotiation? There is nothing that signals to the Arabs that it is possible to restore them to the 1967 border than such a freeze," Dayan said.

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      1.   Yishai is Bibi`s lackey... he does the dirty work for him... 11:19  |  Esther 06/09/09
      2.   he means "tactical" 11:34  |  Bruno 06/09/09
      3.   IT``s not up to him.There are many parties to this deal 11:41  |  PETER SM 06/09/09
      4.   It`s really frightening to see Israel "demasking" herself...... 12:01  |  Swiss (Dino) 06/09/09
      5.   stop illegal settlement 12:08  |  le mouel 06/09/09
      6.   Let everyone build... In Palestine 12:16  |  B`galil 06/09/09
      7.   To #2 13:20  |  Canadian 06/09/09
      8.   Why not stop the money? 13:59  |  Megan 06/09/09
      9.   Please keep in mind -settlements more dangerous 4world than Iran 14:01  |  Alan SA 06/09/09
      10.   Settlement blindness 14:41  |  Fairplay 06/09/09
      11.   Words of gold ! 15:35  |  Akram Zekaria 06/09/09
      12.   Settlement freeze 15:42  |  Al 06/09/09
      13.   It`s Entirely Up To America. 16:07  |  Cool B 06/09/09
      14.   It`s a Failure at Peace 16:23  |  Stephen 06/09/09
      15.   duplicity on both sides 16:33  |  peter rouget 06/09/09
      16.   Plan is to buy time until Obama is weakened 17:01  |  Nasrim Khil 06/09/09
      17.   Israel`s goals are clear 17:09  |  George 06/09/09
      18.   mayhem 20:27  |  anonymous 06/09/09
      19.   no settlement deals before "peace" are necessary 20:48  |  bernard ross 06/09/09
      20.   We will build and call that a freeze. 20:49  |  Marteen Hamilton 06/09/09
      21.   Israel vs America 20:58  |  Bill 06/09/09
      22.   Nonsense 21:01  |  Dr Phil Bernke 06/09/09
      23.   In other words, no halt at all 21:50  |  Colin Wright 06/09/09
      24.   "make peace" 22:01  |  ol` Case 06/09/09
      25.   Al #12, Your comment is racist 22:31  |  John 06/09/09
      26.   It`s all talk, just buying time... 22:48  |  Esther 06/09/09
      27.   Obvious ramifications... 23:28  |  Esther 06/09/09
      28.   Like in days of Bush, Israel reched deal with AIPAC 23:59  |  Ivar 06/09/09
      29.   Deuteronomy 28 still applies. 00:15  |  susan 07/09/09
      30.   Just throw obama a bone every so often Bibi... 00:41  |  Malone 07/09/09
      31.   "Nom de Guerre" = Terrorist Name 00:50  |  Miguel Almela Perez 07/09/09
      32.   settelments freeze #10 01:00  |  samphila 07/09/09
      33.   Waiting for the"climate" 01:25  |  Amused 07/09/09
      34.   Settlements 01:46  |  Eila 07/09/09
      35.   This is a JOKE!!! 02:21  |  Tamer 07/09/09
      36.   Violations Tauted As Progress 02:38  |  Yaakov Sullivan 07/09/09
      37.   ISRAEL GAVE BACK 04:16  |  TOBIA 07/09/09
      38.   When will it get into the HEADS of the Ruling Polticians 12:16  |  Amnon 07/09/09
      39.   #31.Tobia Re.".Israel Gave back" 12:36  |  B Fair 07/09/09
      40.   BFair?? 06:12  |  Steve of Mevaserret 08/09/09
      41.   For Whom the Siren Sounds: Sderot`s Injured 06:26  |  Steve of Mevaserret 08/09/09
      42.   Settlement deal 20:38  |  ragged soul 08/09/09
      43.   obama on west bank freeze 06:19  |  mike 10/09/09
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