Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu intends to approve next week plans for hundreds of new housing units in the West Bank before considering a moratorium " for a few months" on further construction, local daily The Jerusalem Post cited a senior source as reporting on Friday.
According to the source in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), the 2,500 units that are already in various stages of construction in the territories will continue to be built.
The new housing will be in the West Bank rather than in East Jerusalem, noted the source, saying that the temporary moratorium, which would not apply to East Jerusalem, would be put in place if the "conditions are right," including if the Arab states were forthcoming in providing Israel with normalization gestures.
According to another diplomatic source, the more Israel would get from the Arab world, the more "flexible" it would be willing to be.
The comment came amid reports Thursday that Israel and the United States were close to an agreement on the conditions for re- launching the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
The U.S. has been pressing Israel to agree to a settlement freeze, and the Palestinians have said they would not resume peace talks unless Israel suspends construction on lands they want for a future state.
However, senior officials in the PMO continued to hold close to their chest details of the possible agreement, with one official saying there were still numerous "moving parts," and that the discussions with U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell would continue next week in Jerusalem.
The official was unwilling to confirm persistent reports that Israel had agreed eventually to a nine-month freeze on issuing new tenders in the West Bank, excluding East Jerusalem.
A senior State Department official, though, told the Jerusalem Post that a freeze of nine months was "reasonable" when it came to meeting the U.S. goal of "getting a freeze that's long enough to be credible and for negotiations to proceed."
Though no definite time frame had been finalized, any freeze would in nature be temporary as it would come amid negotiations toward a long-term goal, said the State Department official, adding that any decided on time frame could be extended.
He would not confirm the specific details under consideration, but did say regarding the talks between Mitchell and the Israelis that "we are getting closer," and indicated that Mitchell's return visit at the end of next week could be his final trip before a formal announcement of an agreement was made.
(Xinhua News Agency September 4, 2009)
