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WikiLeaks: Germany Pressured U.S. to Force Settlement Freeze on Israel
(Ha'aretz) Barak Ravid - Two weeks before Israel's cabinet decided on a settlement construction freeze in November 2009, German National Security Adviser Christoph Heusgen urged the U.S. to threaten Prime Minister Netanyahu that if he did not agree to a moratorium, Washington would withdraw its support for blocking a vote on the Goldstone Report at the UN Security Council. According to a telegram published by WikiLeaks, Heusgen met with U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Philip Gordon and U.S. Ambassador to Germany Philip Murphy on Nov. 10, 2009, to discuss the matter. "He [Heusgen] suggested pressuring Netanyahu by linking favorable UNSC treatment of the Goldstone Report to Israel committing to a complete stop in settlement activity." The American officials were surprised by the proposal and said that such linkage would be counterproductive.