The settlement freeze / Pleasing nobody

For Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the understandings on curbing construction in the territories have become a case of trying to please everyone and not pleasing anyone. Netanyahu did go a long way toward meeting Washington's demands, but the reservations he added to the agreement - which state that Israel will build 455 new housing units and complete 2,500 units already under construction - will simply outrage the international community.

At the same time, the settlers see the construction that is being permitted as negligible. Neither the numbers nor the settlements affected are such as would make them feel their leadership's support of Netanyahu in the elections was justified.

Most of the permits issued by Defense Minister Ehud Barak yesterday enable limited construction in settlements within the consensus - the large blocs west of the separation fence. The main exception is a permit to build in Maskiot, a settlement in the northern Jordan Valley. But construction there has been in the pipeline for about five years, and the permit is ultimately for 20 housing units instead of the initial 120.

All this is far from satisfying the settlers' demands. They are interested in building deep inside the West Bank, in both veteran settlements and outposts, not in two ultra-Orthodox towns west of the fence - Betar Ilit and Kiryat Sefer.

On the other hand, the way the compromise was drafted ensures that construction will continue throughout the "suspension." The understandings will probably stipulate a period of six to nine months, but building a house often takes longer.

Thus the settlements will feel the pain, but when CNN or BBC crews go to the territories in the next few months, they will have no problem finding construction in process. Israeli explanations that this construction was authorized by a legitimate permit issued before the suspension will not interest the foreign journalists.

The Americans probably know all that. Defense Ministry officials insist that the administration was not surprised by yesterday's permits; Washington knew Netanyahu needed them to soothe his home crowd. It is likely that the American protest was also agreed on in advance.

But the Americans may have been surprised by the high profile Netanyahu gave to his announcement of the new permits. The White House spokesman was attacked during the daily briefing on Sunday by skeptical journalists who told him bluntly that the Israelis had deceived President Barack Obama all the way.