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Netanyahu: Israel Will Keep Jordan Valley

   VOA News 02 March 2010
   Israeli  Prime  Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gestures as he speaks at a
   cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, Wednesday, 24 Feb, 2010

Photo: AP

   Israeli  Prime  Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gestures as he speaks at a
   cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, Wednesday, 24 Feb, 2010

   Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel will not cede the Jordan
   Valley,  which  is  located along the eastern border of the West Bank.
   Palestinians claim the West Bank as their future state.
   A  participant in a closed-door parliamentary meeting Tuesday said Mr.
   Netanyahu  told  lawmakers  the  Jordan  Valley  is  too strategically
   important to give up.
   The  remarks  come  as  the  United  States  works to bring both sides
   together for renewed peace talks.
   On  Monday, the U.S. criticized an Israeli plan to build 600 new homes
   in  a  Jewish settlement in East Jerusalem.  Palestinians hope to make
   East Jerusalem the capital of a future state.

   Palestinians  have  condemned the Israeli plan as an attempt to derail
   the Middle East peace process.

   Some information for this report was provided by AP.

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