ISRAELI PRIME minister Benjamin Netanyahu has hinted that he may be willing to consider a compromise over the thorny question of settlement building, which has cast a shadow over tomorrow’s resumption of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks in the Egyptian Red sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.
Addressing ministers from his ruling Likud party yesterday, Mr Netanyahu indicated that a limited, partial resumption of construction was an option when the 10-month moratorium expires at the end of this month. “There is all or nothing, but there are also midway options,” he said.
He expressed similar comments last night when he met Tony Blair, the Middle East envoy of the Quartet, which is comprised of the US, EU, Russia and the UN. Mr Netanyahu stressed that the Palestinian demand for a total building freeze is unrealistic, but compromise was possible.
“Israel will not build all the tens of thousands of housing units awaiting approval, but on the other hand we won’t freeze the lives of Judea and Samaria (West Bank) residents by freezing construction,” he said.
Jewish settlers reacted angrily to the prime minister’s conciliatory tone, accusing him of caving in to American and international pressure. Settler representatives threatened to work to topple Mr Netanyahu from power if settlement building is not restored to its previous levels. “Any deviation from the pledge to resume full construction would be akin to an ongoing freeze through other means,” said Danny Dayan, the chairman of the settlers’ council.
Palestinian prime minister Mahmoud Abbas has repeatedly threatened to walk out of the peace talks if Israel resumes building on West Bank settlements.
On Friday, US president Barack Obama called on Israel to extend the 10-month moratorium for the duration of the peace talks.
Mr Netanyahu said yesterday: “To my regret I do not hear the sentence ‘two states for two peoples’ uttered on the other side. I hear about two states, but I don’t hear two peoples.”