Israel has approved construction of 28 new public buildings in the occupied West Bank, the defence ministry said on Friday, highlighting the limits to settlement restrictions announced this week. "These public buildings and schools must be completed in time for the start of the new school year in September," the ministry said. Defence Minister Ehud Barak's approval for the new construction came just two days after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced restrictions on building in West... Read Full Story
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel's foreign minister shrugged off on Thursday the Palestinian dismissal of a 10-month moratorium on some building in West Bank settlements, saying winning international support was more important. "The last thing that should interest us is the Palestinians' concern. Before the Palestinian issue, what should interest us is our friends in the world," Avigdor Lieberman told Israel Radio. "We spoke to them and most said 'help us to help you'." The announcement on... Read Full Story
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Friday charged that Israel aims to "terminate the Palestinian people" and said he backs the establishment of Jerusalem as capital of an independent Palestinian state. "We .. are on the side of the Palestinian people's memorable struggle ... against the genocidal state of Israel that knocks down, kills and aims to terminate the Palestinian people," Chavez told visiting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. "We reiterate ... our greatest... Read Full Story
Israel on Wednesday offered a temporary ease in settlement building in a move hailed by Washington as helping move forward the stalled peace process but rejected by the Palestinians as insufficient. "Today the cabinet decided on a policy of restraint regarding settlements, which would include a suspension of new permits for new construction in Judea and Samaria for a period of 10 months," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a news conference, using the biblical name of the occupied West... Read Full Story
Israel's prime minister on Wednesday pushed for a temporary ease in settlement building amid US pressure for concessions towards peace, even as the Palestinians rejected the offer as insufficient. "As part of the efforts to kick-start peace efforts ... the prime minister will today ask the security cabinet to approve the temporary suspension of new construction permits for houses and new building starts" in the occupied West Bank, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said in a... Read Full Story
The Palestinians said on Wednesday they would not view any partial or temporary halt to Israeli settlements as sufficient for the relaunch of US-backed Middle East peace talks. Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat said he expected Israel's hawkish Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to announce a partial easing of settlement activity later in the day. "We have learned that Netanyahu will announce today a partial halt to settlements in the West Bank, not including Jerusalem," Erakat told... Read Full Story
The Obama administration welcomed Israel's temporary freeze of settlement building Wednesday as a way to revive Middle East peace talks, despite its long struggle to break the deadlock. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Israel's announcement "helps move forward toward resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict," and reiterated what she called "unwavering" US support for a two-state solution. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offered to freeze new building projects in the... Read Full Story
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel is "very near" to agreeing a prisoner swap with Hamas, though it remains unclear which jailed Palestinians will be released, an Israeli cabinet minister said on Tuesday. Hamas leaders were in Cairo to advance the Egyptian- and German-brokered negotiations under which Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier held in the Gaza Strip, would go free in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians in Israel's prisons. Officials close to the talks said on Monday that Israel had agreed... Read Full Story
Israel said on Monday there was no deal yet on a prisoner swap with Hamas, as efforts appeared to gather pace on an accord that could see a Gaza-held soldier exchanged for hundreds of Palestinians. "There is no deal yet," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told deputies from his right-wing Likud party, an official present at the meeting said. "The question will be decided by the government and there will be a debate in the Knesset," he said, referring to Israel's parliament. He spoke... Read Full Story
An Israeli minister said on Tuesday that a deal with the Islamist Hamas movement to swap a Gaza-held soldier in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners was "very close." "I think that we are very close to a deal on an exchange," Industry Minister Benjamin Ben Eliezer told army radio from Turkey, where he is on a visit. "There will be a high price to pay, but I think the government will approve it," he said. "This deal will prove to all the mothers of Israel that we are not ready to... Read Full Story
