Israel’s prime minister has briefed his
cabinet on a package of incentives the US has proposed if it renews a partial
freeze on settlement construction.
Washington has reportedly said it will
strengthen its commitment to oppose UN resolutions critical of Israel, and
offer defence and security guarantees.
In return, Israel would stop building
for 90 days in the occupied West Bank.
The Palestinian Authority has reacted
negatively to the proposal because the halt would not include East Jerusalem.
The settlement row has derailed
US-brokered direct peace talks, which resumed in September after almost 20
months and broke down only weeks later, when the previous construction freeze
expired.
Israel has occupied the West Bank,
including East Jerusalem, since 1967, settling close to 500,000 Jews in more
than 100 settlements. They are considered illegal under international law,
although Israel disputes this.
There are about 2.5 million Palestinians
living in the West Bank.
Israel’s government was split over
whether to accept the new US offer when it was presented by Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday, according to reports in the Israeli media.
Some ministers are said to have
requested further reassurances from Washington, while Vice Premier Moshe Yaalon
called it a “honey trap”.
“[It] will lead us down a slippery
slope and into another crisis with the American administration after three
months, or perhaps even sooner,” he was quoted as saying by the Haaretz
newspaper.
Mr Yaalon was reportedly one of four
members of Mr Netanyahu’s Likud party who opposed the deal, which would see
Israel halt all new projects started since 26 September, when the previous
freeze ended.
But the prime minister said the proposal
was “not yet final”.
“It is still in process of
formulation by our and US teams. If and when the formulation is completed, I
will bring it up in the appropriate government forum,” he explained.
“In any event, I insist that any
proposal provides an answer to the State of Israel’s security needs both in the
immediate range and against threats Israel will face in the coming
decade.”
According to diplomats, the US has said
it will not ask Israel to extend the new freeze when it expires, provide 20
F-35 fighter jets worth $3bn, veto or oppose any initiatives at the UN Security
Council critical of Israel, and sign a comprehensive security agreement with
Israel at the same time as any peace deal is finalised.
The BBC’s Kim Ghattas in Washington says
the deal was discussed when US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met Mr
Netanyahu on Thursday.
The Palestinian Authority – backed by
the Arab League – has pledged not to return to the talks without a full
settlement construction freeze, but have given US negotiators until early
November to try to break the impasse.
Washington has been trying desperately
for two months to revive deadlocked peace talks, and a 90-day freeze may be
enough to get the Palestinians back to the negotiating table, our correspondent
says.
Within those three months officials hope
to get serious discussions under way about the borders of a future Palestinian
state, she adds.
Last month, Mr Netanyahu offered to
renew the freeze if the Palestinian Authority recognised Israel as a Jewish
state, but it dismissed the idea.
Palestinian officials have argued in the
past that recognising Israel as a Jewish state would compromise the rights of
20% of the Israeli population that is not Jewish, and cancel the right of
Palestinian refugees to return.
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