Israeli officials: New West Bank projects frozen

Source: Associated Press

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"Israel has quietly stopped approving new building projects in the West Bank while publicly still refusing U.S. demands for a formal settlement freeze, officials, peace activists and settlers said Tuesday.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office denied there was any agreement among senior ministers to freeze new construction. But settlement watchdog Peace Now said no new building had been approved since Netanyahu took office in March.

President Barack Obama's administration has been prodding Israel to shelve all settlement construction on land Palestinians want for a future state, a demand Israel has said it cannot accept. The issue has grown into a rare public disagreement between the two close allies.

However, several government officials said Tuesday that Israel has decided to temporarily stop green-lighting new projects because of the international pressure."

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090818/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_israel_palestinians

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Officials: Netanyahu froze new West Bank projects

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"Israel has quietly stopped approving new building projects in the West Bank while publicly still refusing U.S. demands for an official settlement freeze, government officials said Tuesday.

The decision to temporarily shelve new construction was made jointly by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Housing Minister Ariel Atias, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because no formal measure has been announced.

Netanyahu has refrained from initiating the new housing projects hoping to reach common ground with Washington, Atias told Israel Radio.

"Since the government was established five months ago, no tenders have been issued for Judea and Samaria," Atias said, referring to government invitations for bids for new construction in West Bank settlements.

"The fact is, we are in a holding pattern ... an attempt, I believe, to reach an understanding with the U.S. administration and a comprehensive peace agreement," Atias said."

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1108375.htm

That whole "natural growth" thing sounds like a loophole the size of swiss cheese.

It is next to impossible for an Israeli Arab to get a building permit in East Jerusalem.

I'd bet money on it.

Hey, we should recognize it -- the U.S. perfected the practice in "winning the West."

After meeting Egyptian counterpart Mubarak, US president says freeze on construction starts in settlement blocs, east Jerusalem 'movement in the right direction'

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3763917,00.html

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"US President Barack Obama said on Tuesday he saw encouraging signs of a softening of Israel's resistance to his call for a freeze on settlement-building in the occupied West Bank.

Earlier on Tuesday, an Israeli government minister said no tenders had been issued for new housing projects in Israeli settlements since Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-leaning government took office five months ago. Netanyahu has rebuffed Obama's push for a complete freeze, creating the most serious rift in US-Israeli relations in a decade.

"There has been movement in the right direction," Obama said when asked about the latest development after talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak at the White House.

The two leaders, meeting for the third time in as many months, talked about how to jump-start the stalled Middle East peace process, a top foreign policy priority for Obama."