From comments made in an interview yesterday, the Israeli Defence Minister, Mr Yitzhak Mordechai, does not appear to completely rule out the possibility of a future freeze on Israeli settlement expansion in the West Bank - even at the disputed Jewish housing project at Har Homa in east Jerusalem.
Asked in an interview in the daily Yediot Aharonot if Israel would agree to a settlement freeze if the Palestinian leader, Mr Yasser Arafat, took strong measures against Islamic fundamentalist organisations, Mr Mordechai - one of the most moderate members of the ruling right-wing coalition - did not categorically rule out such a development.
"I assume that the Americans and other parties will come with suggestions of this type," he said. "We will discuss them in the [security] cabinet."
Settlement activity was significantly curtailed by the previous Labour government, especially in highly controversial areas deep in the West Bank.
But since a Likud-led government returned to power last year, it has increased settlement investment - a move that has strained Israel's relations not only with the Palestinians who hope to set up a future state in most of the West Bank, but with the rest of the Arab world.
Israeli-Palestinian negotiations broke down completely earlier this year after the Israeli Prime Minister, Mr Benjamin Netanyahu, gave the go-ahead for the construction of a Jewish housing project on the hilltop of Har Homa in a part of Jerusalem the Palestinians view as their future capital.
In comments reported yesterday in Yediot Aharonot, however, Mr Netanyahu made it clear he would not agree, under any circumstances, to a halt in building at Har Homa or a slowdown in building at settlements in the area around Jerusalem.
But he did not seem to rule out the possibility of decelerating settlement construction in some areas.
Asked whether he would be prepared to accept a slowdown in settlement building, Mr Netanyahu answered that "for peace both leaders will have to take brave decisions. I will take them, if Arafat is also ready to take them."
Mr Netanyahu also repeated his willingness to leapfrog over the remaining stages of the Oslo peace accords and move directly to final status talks with the Palestinians. If Mr Arafat agreed to accelerated final negotiations, he said: "I will consider a series of steps to advance the [peace] process."
Peter Hirschberg is a senior writer at the Jerusalem Report