Originally posted by the Voice of America. Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America, a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in the public domain. Israeli PM: No Extension of Settlement Moratorium VOA News 08 July 2010 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu chairs the weekly cabinet meeting in his Jerusalem offices, 04 Jul 2010 Photo: AP Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu chairs the weekly cabinet meeting in his Jerusalem offices, 04 Jul 2010 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has indicated he would not extend a moratorium on new housing starts in the West Bank, although Palestinians say a freeze on Jewish settlement construction is a condition for launching peace talks. Mr. Netanyahu said Israel enacted the settlement freeze in order to "encourage" Palestinians to enter into direct talks but, so far, the effort has not worked. He added that he thought Israel had done enough. The Israeli leader spoke Thursday at the Council on Foreign Relations, a leading foreign affairs policy institute in New York. Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat has said Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas will not agree to direct talks until Israel commits to a total freeze on Jewish settlement construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.  Palestinians want both areas to be part of a future state. Speaking on Tuesday during his meeting with the Israeli prime minister, President Barack Obama said he would like to see direct talks between Israelis and Palestinians start before Israel's temporary freeze on settlement building ends in September.  Mr. Netanyahu also said Thursday there is growing concern about Iran's nuclear program. He said one of the world's "most dangerous regimes" could not be allowed to possess "the world's most dangerous weapons." Separately, U.S. President Barack Obama said he did not believe Israel would surprise the U.S. with a unilateral attack on Iran. In an Israeli TV interview that aired Thursday, the president said the U.S.-Israeli relationship was strong and neither side would try to surprise the other. At their Tuesday meeting, Mr. Obama and Mr. Netanyahu downplayed any rift in U.S.-Israeli relations, which were strained by Israel's decision in March to build 1,600 new Jewish housing units in mainly Arab East Jerusalem. Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters. .