Israel’s prime minister was to ask his Cabinet yesterday to consider a package of security and diplomatic incentives the US has proposed to entice Israel to renew limits on settlement construction and revive moribund peace talks with the Palestinians.
The chief Palestinian negotiator expressed strong reservations about the proposal because the 90-day moratorium on new construction would only apply to the West Bank and not east Jerusalem, the Palestinians’ hoped-for capital.
However, Saeb Erekat did not reject it outright, saying the Palestinians would consult among themselves and with Arab leaders.
Peace talks ground to a halt, just three weeks after they began at the White House, after Israel resisted US and Palestinian pressure to extend a 10-month moratorium on new construction in the West Bank that expired on Sept. 26.
The Palestinians refused to return to the negotiating table if construction resumed on land they want for a future state and gave the US until later this month to come up with a formula to salvage the talks.
The diplomatic climate soured even further last week after Israel pressed ahead with plans to build 1,300 apartments in east Jerusalem.
In a seven-hour meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the US last week, US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said that in exchange for a new construction moratorium, the White House would ask Congress to sell Israel 20 stealth fighter jets, an Israeli official said.
The US would also commit to fight international resolutions that would be critical of Israel or unilaterally advance the Palestinian quest for statehood, he said.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity pending the presentation of the deal to the Cabinet yesterday.
Under the proposal, the US has agreed not to seek a further extension of the building moratorium after it expires. The idea is that the 90-day period would give the two sides time to work out an agreement on borders between Israel and a future Palestinian state, thereby making it clear where Israel can continue to build and where it cannot.
Netanyahu can expect stiff opposition to the US proposal from some members of his hawkish Cabinet who take a hard line against territorial concessions to the Palestinians and fault him for waiting until the original moratorium was almost over to enter into peace talks.
It was unclear if any decisions would be taken at yesterday’s meeting. Netanyahu, who has not publicly stated support for the proposal, presented it before an inner Cabinet of decision-makers on Saturday night.
Erekat said the US had not officially -informed the Palestinians about the details of the proposal, but “they know we have a major problem in not including east Jerusalem.”
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will put the US plan before Palestinian decision-makers and call for an immediate session of Arab League officials before announcing an official decision, Erekat said.
Palestinians say construction in the West Bank and east Jerusalem — even in areas Israel is expected to retain under a final peace deal — undermines the talks because it eats up land they want for their future state.
They have said that if negotiations fail they will consider sidestepping Israel and seek UN recognition of a Palestinian state.
According to the Israeli diplomatic source, the building freeze would apply to all new construction that began in the West Bank after the moratorium expired on Sept. 26. Anti-settlement watchdog Peace Now reported yesterday that construction has begun on 1,649 apartments.
That number includes 1,126 apartments where foundations have been dug — the government’s definition of a housing start. In all of last year, there were 1,888 housing starts in the West Bank.
“It turns out that the settlement freeze was no more than a 10-month delay in construction and the settlers managed to fill in the gap very fast,” Peace Now said in a statement.
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