Israel would not make a complete cessation of settlement activities and is ready to consider only the possibility of reducing the volume of construction for a limited time, quoted in Monday Israeli media, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Settlement activity in the occupied Palestinian territories remains the main obstacle to the resumption of Palestinian-Israeli negotiations, interrupted with the advent of the Netanyahu government, and major irritant in relations between Israel and the U.S. - the key strategic ally of the Jewish state.
“Reduction of construction in Judea and Samaria (the West Bank of the Jordan River) is possible only for a limited time. We have no agreement with the Americans on its duration,” - said Netanyahu at a meeting of the parliamentary commission on foreign affairs and defense.
“The Palestinians have been waiting for a complete freeze of construction, but now it is clear that this does not happen. We are teetering between wanting to resume the peace process and the need to live a normal life (Jewish) residents of Judea and Samaria” - continued the Premier.
On Tuesday, Netanyahu met with special envoy of U.S. President George Mitchell, who flew to the region in order to try to resolve obstacles to restart Israeli-Palestinian dialogue.
In the West Bank, occupied by Israel during the Arab-Israeli war of 1967, there were 121 Jewish settlement with 300 thousand inhabitants. More about 200 thousand Jews live in East Jerusalem, which, from the standpoint of international law also applies to the occupied territories.
While promising not to create new settlements, Israel insists on its right to build within the boundaries of existing ones to meet the needs of their demographic development.
Plan “road map”, recognized by the international community as a basis for regional peace process requires the cessation of all forms of settlement activity, including so-called “natural growth” of settlements. Without this requirement, the Palestinian National Authority refuses to return to the negotiating table with Israel.