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November 30, 2009

Israel Orders Partial Settlement Freeze
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered a partial 10-month
freeze on West Bank settlements. The Obama administration praised
Netanyahu’s decision but Palestinians leaders said it fell short of
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s call for a full halt to settlement
construction as a condition for reviving peace negotiations. Netanyahu’s
plan has two major loopholes: construction will continue on 3,000
previously authorized settler homes and the moratorium does not apply to
occupied East Jerusalem. Meanwhile a pro-settler group has petitioned
Israel’s High Court to stop Israel from enforcing Netanyahu’s partial
freeze on settlements.



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