TEL AVIV - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday he had written to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton making clear Israel would not curb Jewish housing construction in disputed areas in and around Jerusalem. Netanyahu's comments, before the start of a Washington visit on Monday, showed that while a public feud with the White House over Jewish settlements might have eased in recent days, the right-wing leader was not budging from his defiant policy. "Our policy on Jerusalem is the same policy followed by all Israeli governments for the 42 years, and it has not changed. As far as we are concerned, building in Jerusalem is the same as building in Tel Aviv," Netanyahu said in broadcast remarks. "I believed it would be of great importance for these things not to remain in the context of commentary or speculation. I subsequently wrote a letter, at my own initiative, to the secretary of state so that things would be crystal clear." Clinton and Netanyahu spoke by telephone on Thursday in an attempt to defuse a dispute over settlement in areas around East Jerusalem, which Israel captured in a 1967 war. The issue has delayed the start of indirect peace talks with the Palestinians.
