Erica blog

Israeli Cabinet to consider US settlement proposal

JERUSALEM – Israel's prime minister will ask his Cabinet Sunday to consider a package of security and diplomatic incentives the U.S. 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. But 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, after Israel rejected U.S. and Palestinian pressure to extend a 10-month moratorium on new construction that expired Sept. 26. Palestinians refused to return to the negotiating table if construction resumed on land they want for a future state and gave the U.S. 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 U.S. last week, U.S. 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 diplomatic source said.

The U.S. would also commit to fight international resolutions that would be critical of Israel or unilaterally advance the Palestinian quest for statehood, he said.

He spoke on condition of anonymity pending the presentation of the deal to the Cabinet on Sunday.

Netanyahu can expect some stiff opposition to the proposal from some members of his hawkish Cabinet. It was unclear if any decisions would be taken at Sunday's meeting.

Erekat, the Palestinian negotiator, said the Americans 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 U.S. 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 U.N. recognition of a Palestinian state.

According to the Israeli diplomatic source, the construction 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 Sunday 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 2009, 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.

The U.S. incentives package was presented after a contentious week in which the U.S. repeatedly criticized Israel for pressing ahead with new construction in east Jerusalem.

Netanyahu defiantly insisted that all of Jerusalem — including the eastern sector annexed in 1967 in a move not recognized by the international community — "is not a settlement. It is the capital of the state of Israel."