White House praises PM's halt of settlement construction tenders
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A day after leveling unprecedented criticism at Israel's West Bank constructions plans, the White House praised Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's response.
In a statement, White House Spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan said: “We welcome the news that Prime Minister Netanyahu ordered the Housing Ministry to stop the planning tenders. As we said yesterday: Our position on settlements is quite clear. We consider now and have always considered the settlements to be illegitimate. We do not consider settlement planning, even in its early stages, to be a step that creates a positive environment for the negotiations.” (Yitzhak Benhorin, Washington)
