Will settlement construction freeze end?
Two weeks before settlement freeze due to end, PM Netanyahu hints at its partial extension, mentioning 'midway options'; government ministers divided on issue. Herzog: Brave steps needed; Yishai: Palestinians seek excuses
Netanyahu's moment of truth nearing: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hinted Sunday morning at his plans concerning the construction freeze in West Bank settlements, leaving room for the assumption that partial building would resume after the moratorium ends this month.
"There is all or nothing but there are also midway options," he said, according to Likud ministers, without explaining.
Government ministers attending the Cabinet meeting expressed contradictory views on the matter.
According to those present, Ministers Benny Begin and Limor Livnat said construction must resume immediately. But Minister Michael Eitan stressed that international opinion must be considered before making a decision.
"Brave steps must be taken in order to continue the negotiations, even if this means extending the settlement freeze," Welfare Minister Isaac Herzog said Sunday.
On the other hand, Interior Minister Eli Yishai declared that "we must contend with the truth and not stick our head in the sand like an ostrich…I'm very skeptical. I don't believe the Palestinians want diplomatic negotiations. They keep on looking for excuses and cannot even move forward and recognize a Jewish state…one time it's the construction freeze, another time it's a freeze in Jerusalem…first they should make internal peace with Hamas and then they can try talking to us."
The PM did not address the settlement freeze issue at the beginning of Sunday's government session. However, he referred to his upcoming meeting Tuesday with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Sharm el-Sheikh, urging the Palestinians to recognize Israel as a Jewish state.
"We both live on the same plot of land, yet while we talk about a solution of two nation-states – a Jewish and a Palestinian one – to my regret I do not hear the sentence 'two states for two peoples' uttered on the other said. I hear about two states, but I don't hear two peoples."
Meanwhile, Lebanese media, citing "diplomatic sources," reported Sunday that Netanyahu promised the US Administration not to resume settlement construction in the next eight months, without declaring this publically.
According to the report, PM Netanyahu told the US before the resumption of direct talks in Washington that his government would not publically declare either the end or a continuation of the building moratorium.
On Friday, US President Barack Obama told journalists that he advised the Israeli prime minister to extend the construction freeze in Judea and Samaria as long as the direct talks with the Palestinians continue.
Attila Somfalvi and Roee Nahmias contributed to the report
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