Jerusalem, September 13: Efforts still need to be made before Israel and the Palestinians can renew peace talks, although progress has been made in certain spheres, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday.
Addressing ministers at the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem before heading to Cairo for talks with Egyptian President Hosny Mubarak, Netanyahu noted that he hoped the gaps between the sides preventing a renewal of peace talks could be narrowed, “perhaps even bridged, in order to restart the diplomatic process.”
Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, suspended last year when Israel entered an election campaign, have not been renewed since Netanyahu took office at the end of March.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has endorsed a US demand that Israel halt completely all settlement construction in the occupied West Bank, and says the negotiations will not restart until Israel does do.
Netanyahu originally said Israel will not build any new settlements, but will continue construction in existing ones to accommodate population expansion, the so-called “natural growth.”
Israeli officials have been holding talks on the issue with US special envoy George Mitchell and reports say Jerusalem will announce a “settlement construction freeze.”
Mitchell arrived in Israel Saturday night and will continue his talks with Israeli officials in an effort to hammer out a solution to the dispute.
——Agencies