CAIRO: Expressing a wish to turn back to direct peace negotiations with Palestinians, Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu promised to “halt all settlement construction by state contractors” on Wednesday. In talks with Colombian Foreign Minister Maria Angela Holguin, Netanyahu said he would be “ready to make such a gesture if it would return [Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud] Abbas to the negotiating table” However, Palestinian officials have refused the offer, saying that the deal has no validity because 80 percent of construction is done through private contracts. All settlement construction on Palestinian land is illegal according to international law. Differentiating between privately owned and state owned land is a “false distinction,” said Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) and Palestinian Authority official Saeb Erekat. “Attempting to draw such false distinctions exposes the true intentions of the Israeli government,” he added. Since Israel refused to renew a 10-month partial settlement freeze plan in September 2010, direct peace talks have not been seen. Russia, the European Union, the United Nations and the Unites States, known as the Quartet, have been fiercely advocating renewed peace talks between Israel and Palestine. The Quartet has vowed to mediate peace talks as an alternative to President Mahmoud Abbas' bid for Palestinian statehood, which he filed with the UN this September. Palestine has been defiant to go back to peace talks, as Israel will not agree to a full settlement freeze. On September 27, Israel approved the construction of 1,100 new homes in the Gilo settlement. In early October the construction of 11 units was initiated as part of a 300-home project in Pisgat Zeev settlement. Both projects are in East Jerusalem. Netanyahu told the Jerusalem Post that Palestinian insistence on a settlement halt was a “pretext” to avoid talks, and implied that a new settlement freeze was unlikely. As the United Nations Security Council is to vote Friday for new temporary members to enter its voting body, the prospects for Abbas' statehood bid look dire. Guatemala and Morocco are most likely to be included in the Security Council. Both are unlikely to vote for Palestinian recognition, diplomatic officials and news analysts in New York have said. BM
