RAMALLAH: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will approve hundreds of new housing units in West Bank settlements before he declares a moratorium on construction, two of his aides said on Friday. The plan drew harsh criticism from Washington.
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs reacted strongly, with a bluntly worded statement condemning the move.
“We regret the reports of Israel’s plans to approve additional settlement construction,” it said. “As the president has said before, the United States does not accept the legitimacy of continued settlement expansion and we urge that it stop.”
Netanyahu aides said the Israeli premier would be willing to consider a temporary freeze on settlement construction, but their definition of a freeze would include building the new units and finishing some 2,500 others currently under construction.
The settlement suspension also would not include East Jerusalem, which the Palestinians hope to make their future capital.
Issues concerning West Bank settlements will be decided in talks between Israeli officials and the US Middle East envoy, George Mitchell, who will visit Tel Aviv next week.
A senior source at the US administration involved in Mitchell’s Mideast mission told Haaretz daily on Thursday that Israel and the US were close to reaching an understanding on the issue.
“I think the only thing that will be suspended by this announcement is the peace process,” senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said of the Israeli remarks.
“This is absolutely unacceptable,” he said in Paris where he is accompanying Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
The international community considers all Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian territory to be illegal and a major hurdle to Middle East peace efforts that have been at a standstill since December. The Jerusalem Post said any temporary moratorium on construction would happen if “conditions are right,” including if Arab states move forward with the normalization of ties that Israel is seeking.
A similar report in Haaretz said Netanyahu told US officials of his decision to authorize construction a few weeks ago.
Mustafa Al-Barghouthi, the general secretary of the Palestinian National Initiative, said that Netanyahu’s plan to construct new housing units is a clear proof that he is not interested in peace.
Al-Barghouthi told Arab News that “talks about a temporary settlement freeze and at the same time orders to construct new housing units show Israel is trying to mislead the international community.”
The US has repeatedly said that all settlement activities on lands the Palestinians claim for a future state must stop, without exception. However, Israel appeared to gain some wiggle room in recent weeks as the sides discussed the details of a would-be settlement freeze.
Kurt Hoyer, spokesman for the US Embassy in Tel Aviv, said Washington would be unlikely to accept anything “contrary to the spirit of negotiations they’ve been undertaking” and added it was “doubtful” the US had signed off on the Israeli decision.
In the next few days, the Netanyahu aides said, the Israeli leader will approve the construction of hundreds of new apartments in the West Bank.
— With input from agencies
