Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will convene his forum of top ministers on Tuesday afternoon to debate extending Israel's moratorium on construction in West Bank settlements for 60 days.
The concession would be made in exchange for a series of reported U.S. guarantees in Israel's direct peace negotiations with the Palestinians. Israel halted construction temporarily for 10 months, a freeze that ended on September 26.
The Palestinians have said they would not continue the recently renewed negotiations unless Israel agreed to halt construction again. The Obama administration has urged Israel to reconsider its refusal of that demand.
If Netanyahu succeeds in convincing the Forum of Seven to accept an extension of the construction freeze, he plans to bring the matter to the political-security cabinet for a vote later Tuesday.
The prime minister has an interest in reaching a cabinet decision on the matter before the Arab League follow-up committee meets in Libya on Friday to deliver its own stance on whether peace negotiations should continue.
Secretary of State Hilary Clinton spoke on Sunday with Netanyahu in an effort to reach a solution to the settlements construction deadlock.
State Department spokesman Philip Crowley defined the conversation as “very constructive”, refusing to get into details.
Netanyahu told ministers earlier Monday that Israel and the United States were holding behind-the-scenes talks geared at resolving a recent deadlock in Middle East peace talks with the Palestinians, adding that peace was Israel's vital interest.
Last week, the White House denied that Obama sent Netanyahu a letter proposing a set of U.S. guarantees to Israel in exchange for Israel extending a freeze on settlement construction in the West Bank for another two months.
Obama's letter was said to include a long list of American favors in exchange for an extension of the settlement building freeze, which ended this week. Most of these favors are critical to Israel's strategic security needs that Netanyahu has been demanding for years.
Other commitments that Obama reportedly offered Netanyahu in the letter include an agreement not to ask for any more building freeze extensions, an agreement to veto any anti-Israel UN Security Council resolution in the next year, and an agreement that the future fate of the settlements be dealt with only as part of a final status agreement with the Palestinians.
The American president also reportedly vowed to upgrade Israel's security capabilities and increase the three billion dollar security aid package that Israel receives annually. The letter included commitments to advanced weapons and early warning systems, including satellites.More
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7 comments:
If one studies the people involved in the Obama Administration, it will be clear that Israel controls this President.
Efforts have been made by Barry's handlers to have him read certain statements which diffuse this reality. However, it is more clear by the leaders of the Administration than his scripted words, that Israel is in the driver's seat.
The Brezinski / Soros team ran President Carter's pitiful Administration and they are the same players running this Administration.
Barry Soetoro is a lap dog of Israel, not the Muslim he is painted to be in the media. Don't be fooled by the scripted messages he reads on the teleprompter. Those messages are being written by Zionists within the Administration and Media.
Barry loves Israel. Barry hates America.
first he's a muslim lover out to destroy the US and Isreal. Now he's Isreal's lapdog. Wait, I'm confused.
10:41
You are confused because you can't decide who you will allow to think for you!
The commenter is trying to get you to "study the people involved". The commenter is well aware that the other angle exists.
Many people THINK Obama is a Muslim. This commenter is trying his best to encourage YOU to THINK about the matter and do a little research.
Who are Brezinski, Soros, Rahm Immanuel, etc? think about it for a change.
I find it enlightening to see what Obama DOES instead of what he SAYS.
We give a lot of money to Israel. Why?
11:10, took your advice and thought for myself a min. Seems the US is following the same plan all past pres. have had except Obama has decided that a slightly harder line toward Isreal might lead to some progress on this front. Too bad he can't go harder because all pres. get trapped up by the foreign lobby (Isreali's) entrenched in the conservative party
11:54
I agree with you. All the past U.S. Presidents have been caught up in this problem. There seems to be no solution to the dilema created when the European Jews conquered the Palestinian Land for themselves.
There is no way to make what happened right. It was wrong then, and cannot be corrected today.
Israel will continue to kill Palestinians until the Palestinians give up their claims to that land. They were conquered - end of story.
Just like the Native American Indians. They need to take a page from our history book (Palestinians) and try to bargain a similar deal for their people like the Indians did on this continent. Once conquered, there are not many options.
I hate to see the continued murder of Palestinian People.
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