Israel PM insists no halt to settlements

PRIME Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Sunday vowed there would be no halt to settlement building in east Jerusalem but said Israel was willing to widen the scope of planned indirect peace talks with the Palestinians.

His comments were quickly denounced by Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas as unhelpful to attempts to restart peace talks. Abbas at the same time condemned the killing of four Palestinians in the West Bank by Israeli forces.

The latest violence and the renewed sparring over settlements came as US Middle East envoy George Mitchell arrived in Israel on a new mission to try to revive peace talks between the two sides.

The hardline prime minister said he had spelled out his position in a letter to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who had demanded a series of Israeli steps to end a crisis over settlement-building in the Holy City. Israel and the US have been at loggerheads for the past two weeks after the Jewish state announced plans to build 1,600 new homes for Jewish settlers in east Jerusalem during a visit by US Vice President Joe Biden.

Clinton demanded and received a response from Netanyahu — which came while she was in Moscow to consult with international partners on the peace process — about US concerns over the impact of the settlements. Netanyahu's office said he had suggested "mutual confidence-building measures" that could be carried out by Israel and the Palestinians.

Netanyahu also said on Sunday that Israel had agreed that all issues could be discussed at planned indirect, or "proximity", talks that were delayed by the settlement row, reportedly another US demand.

"We have also made clear that in the proximity talks both sides can raise any issues that are in dispute," he said. "But a real solution to the basic problems between us and the Palestinians can only be solved during direct talks and peace negotiations.

"Only if we are sitting together can we reach joint solutions. That is the only way we can reach a real peace agreement."

Netanyahu was to meet later on Sunday with US peace envoy Mitchell before flying to the United States to address the annual meeting of Aipac, the pro-Israel lobby in Washington.

AFP