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Jerusalem (AFP) Nov 16, 2010 Israel accused the Palestinians on Tuesday of trying to thwart a plan for a new settlement freeze, with a senior official saying they were complaining about the generous US offers promised in return. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is currently weighing plans for fresh restrictions on West Bank settlement building in exchange for a package of US political and security guarantees. He has promised to put the offer to his 15-member security cabinet, but only after receiving written details of the offer. But the draft of the agreement, which was outlined last Thursday in talks between Netanyahu and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, has still not materialised, the Israeli official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. "What is causing a delay in putting together the agreed formula in the US document are Palestinian objections to what Israel has managed to gain through the understandings," he said. Under the terms of the proposal, Israel would declare a one-off three-month moratorium on new construction in the West Bank excluding annexed Arab east Jerusalem. In exchange, the United States would pledge not to ask for a further freeze, would deliver to Israel 20 F-35 fighter jets, worth three billion dollars, and would pledge to block any international efforts to force a political settlement on Israel. Earlier on Tuesday, Netanyahu adviser Nir Hefetz told army radio the security cabinet could not meet until the letter arrived. "No date has been set for the cabinet meeting because we have to wait for the written clarifications from the Americans," he said. Israel's security cabinet is divided on whether to approve a new freeze, but Netanyahu is expected to secure a wafer-thin majority of seven ministers in favour, six opposed and two abstentions.
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![]() ![]() Jerusalem (AFP) Nov 15, 2010 Israel's government is deeply divided over a US proposal for a new ban on West Bank settlement building, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu looks likely to accept it, commentators said on Monday. Details of the plan, which would involve a new 90-day moratorium in exchange for US political and security guarantees, were put to Netanyahu's inner circle late on Saturday and to the cabinet on ... read more |
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