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Netanyahu Agrees to Push for Freeze in Settlements

(New York Times) Mark Landler - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has agreed to push his cabinet to freeze most construction on settlements in the West Bank for 90 days to break an impasse in peace negotiations with the Palestinians, an official briefed on talks between the U.S. and Israel said Saturday. In return, the Obama administration has offered Israel a package of security incentives and fighter jets worth $3 billion that would be contingent on the signing of a peace agreement, the official said. The U.S. would also block any moves in the UN Security Council that would try to shape a final peace agreement. This proposed 90-day freeze would be nonrenewable: the U.S. would not ask for further extensions. The logic behind a 90-day extension is that the two sides would aim for a swift agreement on the borders of a Palestinian state. That would make the long dispute over settlements irrelevant since it would be clear which housing blocs fell into Israel and which fell into a Palestinian state. The security incentives offered by the administration, though generous, do not appear to go far beyond the support the U.S. typically offers Israel. For example, the U.S. has not agreed to endorse a long-term Israeli security presence in the Jordan River Valley.
2010-11-15 08:14:15
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