The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has bowed to American demands to suspend the construction of settlement homes in east Jerusalem ahead of his departure on Sunday for a visit to Washington DC, it was reported on Saturday night.
He has not agreed to stop building in east Jerusalem but Saturdays move is one of a number of goodwill gestures made towards the Palestinian Authority in the wake of US calls for steps to help kick-start the stalled Middle East peace process, according to Israeli newspaper Haaretz.
Other gestures from Netanyahu are said to include promises to ease the blockade of the Gaza Strip for the first time since Israel’s military offensive last winter and to discuss the core issues: Palestinian refugees, borders, Jerusalem, security arrangements, water and settlements.
Plan ‘on hold’
The Israeli leader is also said to have agreed to an “oversight system” to prevent a repeat of the embarrassing incident that occurred during a visit by the US vice-president, Joe Biden, two weeks ago, when plans to build 1 600 new settlement homes in Ramat Shlomo, in east Jerusalem, were announced.
Sources in Jerusalem said Netanyahu would keep the plan “on hold”, at least until a construction freeze in the West Bank comes to an end in September. The path to a resumption of talks with the Palestinians was opened on Friday after Netanyahu agreed to US demands over the peace process following a week of pressure from the Obama administration.
In a telephone call to the US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, who was in Moscow for talks on the Middle East, Netanyahu agreed to various demands. At that stage he did not announce, as the US had demanded, a freeze on the construction of homes in Ramat Shlomo, the key point at issue. The UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, has been visiting the Middle East to meet Israeli and Palestinian leaders.
Netanyahu is due to travel to the US on Sunday to attend a conference in Washington organised by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPC), a lobbying group that advocates pro-Israeli policies.
Netanyahu is expected to hold talks with Clinton, who will also speak at the conference, and may meet President Obama at the White House. – guardian.co.uk