[Jerusalem Post] Herb Keinon and Hilary Leila Krieger - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that the Palestinian demand for an absolute settlement freeze was holding up negotiations. The demand for a total freeze was "strange," Netanyahu said, since the PA never made similar demands of any previous Israeli government. Netanyahu told the cabinet that the U.S. has come out against a settlement freeze as a precondition for talks. Meanwhile, AP reported that Fatah Central Committee member Muhammad Dahlan said, "Settlements and negotiations are two parallel lines that will never meet." "There is systematic backtracking by President Obama," Dahlan said. "There is a changing of the foundations and reference points of the negotiations, and therefore I don't expect a quick return to negotiations."
2009-10-02 08:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive