US: Willing to put guarantees in writing
US State Department spokesman PJ Crowley says discussions with Israel continue over guarantees demanded by Netanyahu before imposing additional freeze in West Bank settlement building
The US State Department said on Friday it would be willing to put guarantees demanded by Israel in writing but declined to discuss specifics of what they might be.
"We continue our discussions with the Israelis. If there is a need to put certain understandings in writing, we will be prepared to do that," State Department spokesman PJ Crowley told a news briefing.
Talks between Israeli and US officials aimed at reviving Middle East peace talks have hit snags over incentives promised by Washington to persuade Israel to resume a freeze of West Bank settlement building.
An Israeli official said on Friday the United States had not yet provided the guarantees that Israel wanted, with Washington reluctant to commit to paper all the promises Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he was offered verbally last week.
Netanyahu has said "intensive" discussions continued to get the necessary "understandings."
"If I receive such a proposal from the American government, I will bring it before the security cabinet and I have no doubt that my colleagues will accept it," he said late Thursday.
The latest snag concerned a pledge that Israel says US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made to provide the country free of charge 20 F-35 stealth warplanes worth $3 billion.
Politicians said Washington was backtracking and now wanted some sort of payment for the coveted fighter aircraft.
"It looks like the free stealth fighters have slipped," said Benny Begin, a Likud minister opposed to the proposed US deal, warning that Washington was setting a trap to extract major concessions later down the line.
"One may wonder if you cannot agree to understandings from one week to the next, what could happen over three months," he told Army Radio on Friday.
Deal could be reached in coming hours
Washington hoped its diplomatic and defense enticements would persuade Israel to renew the freeze for 90 days, opening the way for three months of intense negotiations that would focus on the future border of a Palestinian state.
However, Netanyahu's coalition allies demanded a written pledge from the United States to make clear the building freeze did not include east Jerusalem and to spell out there would be no US pressure for any subsequent moratoria.
The Palestinians themselves have expressed outrage in private over reports of the US offer, saying it was a bribe to get Israel to fulfill basic international obligations.
The Israeli official said there appeared to be a disconnect between the White House and State Department with Obama unhappy that Clinton had offered so much for such a minimal concession.
However, he added that Netanyahu's office thought a deal could be reached in the coming hours and that the prime minister would get the necessary backing from his cabinet at the weekend.
Political sources say seven ministers are ready to support the plan, while six were firmly opposed, leaving two ministers from Shas holding the balance of power.
Reports say they are likely to abstain, but they are facing growing pressure from the pro-settler lobby to vote against and prevent any halt to settlement building.
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