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June 3, 2009

Israel Cites Secret Bush Agreements in Avoiding Settlement Freeze
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The Israeli government, meanwhile, is scrambling to deflect Obama’s
demand for a freeze to all settlement activity in the occupied West
Bank. The Independent of London reports Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu has tried to justify continued Israeli settlement construction
by citing secret agreements between prior Israeli governments and the
Bush administration. The Israeli government says it agreed to the 2003
US-backed Road Map that called for a settlement freeze only on condition
that it be allowed to violate the plan’s ban on expanding existing
settlements.



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