Israeli PM Won’t Halt Settlement Construction

Although the United States has requested that Israel stop building new settlements in the West Bank, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has apparently refused to put a halt to those projects. About the best he was willing to do Monday was say that construction might be scaled down “for a temporary period.”  —KA

BBC:

“A few days ago, we confirmed 450 additional housing units. I told the Americans that we shall consider scaling down construction.”

He said Israel would strike a balance between offering a gesture that would help restart peace negotiations and ensuring a “normal life” for residents in the West Bank settlements.

He also said that any scaling down of construction would be “for a temporary period”, not as yet agreed with the Americans.

“The Palestinians expected a complete halt to construction, a freeze, now it is clear that will not be,” he went on to say. “Jerusalem is not a settlement and construction there will continue as usual.”

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