JERUSALEM — Even before new peace talks with the Palestinians begin, Israel’s government is debating a key concession: whether to extend a slowdown of West Bank settlement construction, which bars the approval of new housing although hundreds of homes already under construction were allowed to be completed.
Israeli officials confirmed Monday that the government is in quiet talks with the U.S. in search of a “creative” solution to allow at least some limited construction to take place after Israel’s 10-month moratorium ends Sept. 26.
The officials said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is well aware of the high stakes. Caving in to U.S. and Palestinian pressure to extend the freeze could bring down the conservative governing coalition. But resuming settlement construction could spell disaster for the fledgling peace talks.
“Many options are being discussed. It’s not that simple,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor.
Palestinian officials said Monday that President Mahmoud Abbas had sent a letter to the U.S threatening to withdraw from the negotiations, set to begin Sept. 2 in Washington, if the settlement freeze ends.
“If Israel resumes settlement activities in the Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem, we cannot continue negotiations,” said Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, quoting from the letter also sent to other members of the “quartet” of Mideast mediators — the European Union, U.N. and Russia.
U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said Washington understands the issue’s importance and will make sure it is discussed at the start of negotiations.
West Bank settlements
The roughly 120 Jewish settlements that dot the West Bank have long been a sore point in Mideast peacemaking. Israel began settling the territory soon after capturing it along with Gaza and East Jerusalem in the 1967 war.
The Palestinians say the settlements, home to about 300,000 Israelis interspersed among about 2.4 million Palestinians, are gobbling up land they claim for a future state. The international community considers them illegal, and President Barack Obama has been an outspoken critic.
