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March 19, 2010

Report: Israeli PM Refuses to Cancel Settlement Expansion, Offers Delay
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The Obama administration has announced it will send special envoy George
Mitchell to Israel and the Occupied Territories in a bid to restart
indirect talks. Mitchell’s initial visit was canceled last week after
Israel announced construction plans for 1,600 new homes in an East
Jerusalem settlement. But on Thursday, the White House said Israeli
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu had made specific proposals that
swayed administration officials to authorize Mitchell’s return. It’s
unclear if Netanyahu agreed to the basic US demand of canceling the
settlement expansion as details have not been released. The Washington
Post reports Netanyahu offered only to delay construction by a few years
but not to cancel it outright. The delay would come as part of a
proposed policy under which Israel would continue to build settlements
but promise not to publicize the construction in the same way that
embarrassed Vice President Joe Biden. The Washington Post says the
policy would be akin to “‘a don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy for
settlements.” If confirmed, the proposals would contradict a plan
endorsed by the US earlier today. In a statement, the Middle East
quartet of the US, Russia, the UN and the European Union called for an
Israeli settlement freeze and the establishment of a Palestinian state
within the next two years.



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