Israelis May Halt Building Reports Say Israelis To Freeze Settlements, Thaw Peace Talks
In what would be a big break in stalled peace talks, Israeli media reported Saturday that Israel has agreed to temporarily halt construction of Jewish settlements.
Israel TV said the two sides are discussing the duration of the freeze, which it said would halt building in the West Bank and Gaza Strip as well as construction of a Jewish neighborhood in a disputed sector of Jerusalem.
Shai Bazak, a spokesman for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, denied the reports, attributed by Israel TV and radio to unidentified Israeli and Palestinian officials.
The decision, the reports said, paved the way for a meeting today in Cairo involving Israeli Cabinet secretary Dan Naveh and the chief Palestinian negotiator, Saeb Erekat.
The Palestinians broke off talks with Israel in mid-March, after Israel broke ground on the neighborhood at Har Homa, known in Arabic as Jabal Abu Ghneim. The Palestinians said they would only resume peace talks if Israel halted construction in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Emanuel Rosen, the political reporter for Israel TV’s Channel 2, said Saturday that senior Israeli and Palestinian officials told him Netanyahu “is willing to have a temporary pause in the building of settlements.”
Some of the sources said Netanyahu’s promise to halt construction also included Har Homa, Rosen said.
Israel radio also reported that Netanyahu has agreed to a temporary building freeze.
Israel TV said the leaks about a construction freeze angered Netanyahu and might scuttle today’s meeting in Cairo. Bazak, however, confirmed Saturday night that the meeting would go ahead and that Naveh would attend.
The reports came after Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat met Saturday with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo. Egypt has been trying to bring the two sides back to the negotiating table and has urged Netanyahu to agree to a six-month freeze in settlement construction.
Also on Saturday, Israeli media reported that Israel is revoking the VIP card of a senior Palestinian security officer whom it holds responsible for the murders of two Palestinians alleged to have sold land to Israelis.
Without it, Col. Tawfik Tirawi, head of the Palestinian General Security Service in the West Bank, is subject to the same searches and long lines as other Palestinians traveling from Palestinian-ruled areas into Israel.
Senior Palestinian officials have denied involvement in the deaths of the land dealers.
xxxx WHAT’S NEXT Israeli Cabinet secretary Dan Naveh and the chief Palestinian negotiator, Saeb Erekat, were to meet today in Cairo in an effort to revive peace talks stalled ever since Israel broke ground on a Jewish housing settlement in East Jerusalem in mid-March.