Barak: Israel unlikely to extend current settlement freeze

Definition: "Time sharing" - the moderator should not concentrate solely on one article until all the comments are published, then move on to another article if he has time, which he usually doesn't. Instead, he should work on a few comments on article A then a few for B, then C, etc. If you don't understand why this is necessary, please talk to your supervisors. If you don't know how the system works, ASK a colleague. "He who asks is a fool for five minutes. But he who does not ask remains a fool forever." - Confucius

There will be no peace because even as they speak of dividing the land Israel grabs more. This will hasten the end of the feckless PLO and move on to the next phase ...one state with equal rights for all..including aliyah for Palestinians

Houses in Israel are and land is too expensive time to use the resourses of the west bank to decrease real estate prices. The Palestininas they aren't my problem let the world relocate them

to the reaction to putin's comment: "if demonstrators demonstrate without permission they will be clubbed and beaten by the police." if netanyahu had used those words there would have been an avalanche of israel hatred.

So, the unelected Barak is now the spokesman for Netanyahu??

judea and samaria is jewish territory and we will build on jewish land.the freeze was stupid.a result of obama bullying the jewish state.

The Israeli leadership will have to keep some sort of a building freeze/slowdown in place. This however does not mean that both sides can not come to some form of compromise. Any compromise made by the Palestinians on settlement construction would more then likely be conformed to neighborhoods that Israel will keep under its control. The outlines are pretty much already sketched out. Israel on its part will have to compromise and probably hand the PA more control over specific sections within the West Bank. The latter would keep the current Israeli right wing coalition headed by Netanyahu intact while any concession made by Israel to Abbas will strengthen him amongst Palestinians moderates and isolate Hamas' agenda.

If the administration cannot even extend the settlement freeze, than it cannot deliver on any peace agreement, and the whole thing is a charade which will quickly be seen through.

1. Idea for the Palestinians: Some settlers say that they will remain in their settlements even if they are turned over to Palestine. Fine, accept such settlements in your territory. They will start declining right away (with residents escaping) when they get no assistance from Palestine government for teachers etc until they are brought to the level of Arab schools. Likewise, water, electricity and other services. Even better, don't offer immunity for crimes the settlers committed against Arabs. Many will end up in jail, so give them the option to disappear. The PROBLEM: The settlers say anything that would prevent Israel from giving up the settlements. They will OBJECT to this creative idea once it seems acceptable, claiming they are being abandoned./// 2. Idea for Israel: Just before Passover, spread a lot of Hametz (bread, etc) over the settlements. Can be done from the air. The settlers will have to sell the settlement to a goy (Arab) for Pesach (of course very cheaply, since he is expected to sell it back after the holiday). After the holiday, the Arab should refuse to sell it back. The settlers' rabbis recognize the sale as valid. End of story. (Note: Better that the government should do the sale, but under the supervision of a settler grand rabbi.)

it must stop cheating the International Community with its "Peace Show".

Barak noted that Israel had permitted limited construction in settlements during the slowdown and he expects some construction to continue after the Sept. 26 deadline.

Israel will not continue settlement freeze ? as, by definition a settlement is illegal and is the core issue of this conflict, how on earth anything that relates to settlements is a compromise from Israel ?? Crookery and lies at their best, as usual.

So what are they talking about. Let them go straight to war and prove Hamas right. That Israelis do not want peace and all this negotiation is a waste of time.

Israel has observed a one year construction freeze as this was a quid pro quo for face to face negotiations with the Arabs. Unfortunately, Israel kept its end of the bargain, the Arabs as usual did not. Hence it is absurd to reward the Arabs with a continued building moratorium as this would be a reward for their recalcitrance. Should it come to pass that negotiations lead to an Israeli withdrawal from a particular community, then the Arabs will be fortunate to inherit an even more developed property. Until such time, however, Israel can and should commence construction as soon as the moratorium ends.

After the Gaza-Jericho First agreement (Oslo I), Israel was to give Gaza and Jericho over to Palestinian control. Arafat then started an argument: What is meant by "Jericho"? Israel thought it was the city, but Arafat claimed it meant the "District of Jericho" as was used by Jordan, a much larger area. It took months to agree on some compromise, and all this with the understanding that Oslo is a first leg towards a much larger Israeli evacuation in a peace agreement. I hope Abbas does not repeat Arafat's mistakes. Yes, he is legally correct when demanding a complete halt to settlement construction, and even in East Jerusalem, which international law forbids. But better accept some "effective freeze" which would allow only small scale construction, and move on with the larger peace deal. In return for the "freeze" concession, the Palestinians can get some good Israeli concession, such as a larger Area A. Better to have one bird in the hand than two in the Bush. Unfortunately, the opening declarations are not too comforting.

Only on condition the new building replaces an old one in the same settlement, and no new land is used. That ought to be enough face-saving for both sides.

So Israel feels so strong than wants everlasting war. Do you realy believe in the same God that another people ?

Simply un-believable that a person in his position can take such a stance.

otherwise, bibi, please don't ever speak of courage. this is not the 'creativity' we need.

There really is no point in having negotiations if at the same time your building on future Palestinian land. Shame on the 'settlers' for driving the construction. If they stayed within the line, peace would be solved a lot quicker.

He would give away the Land for an Arab handshake. The Promise from God means nothing to him. He will be dead soon but the Land is forever. Expelling Jews from the heartland and for what? A place in hell.

As the PA said, settlements and peace are two parallel lines. Israel is not mature yet to acknowledge the mortal danger ahead.

Let us see now, Israelis say "no extension of settlement freeze"; Palestinians say "no negotiations without extension". I pray that we will not reutrn to the same old circle, in Jesus Name.

Netanyahu gets down and his knees and blesses his voters every morning. They will believe anything. So long as he calls the freeze by another name and keeps screaming 'not one inch' at party meetings, they won't even notice that he's giving the Pals everything they want. A politician's dream come true for an electorate...

and yet you talk about peace. how ironic..

What hope of real concessions if the cabinet is too timid to merely extend the freeze until such time as an agreement either takes shape, or collapses . This freeze should be seen as the least difficult. If it isn't, then what goes on the paper will never get translated into action. How impotent is the Israeli government, you ask? Utterly, apparently.

"but restrictions may continue in another form, defense minister says, hinting that Israel may compromise to keep talks alive." Its ironic!