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No Agreement Expected from Netanyahu-Mitchell Meeting

[Jerusalem Post] Israeli diplomatic officials said Monday it was unlikely Tuesday's meeting between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. envoy George Mitchell would lead to a declaration of agreement on the settlement issue, but rather to a further "narrowing of the gaps" that might enable the relaunching of diplomatic negotiations with the Palestinians. The officials stressed that Jerusalem has already said it was willing to start talks immediately and that the PA would have to decide whether it would come to the negotiating table. Netanyahu told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Monday that construction already underway in the settlements would continue, and Israel would keep on building public structures such as schools, health clinics, kindergartens and synagogues to enable normal life in the settlements to continue. Netanyahu said there would be a moratorium on new private construction, but that would not be permanent. He emphasized that any settlement construction moratorium would not include east Jerusalem, adding that "Jerusalem is not a settlement and construction will continue as usual."
2009-09-15 08:00:00
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