Global General
Israel rejects US calls for east Jerusalem freeze
(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-04-23 06:40
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Israeli officials declined to say what gestures were under consideration. The government has debated proposals to free some of the thousands of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, turn over more West Bank territory to Palestinian control and possibly curb Jewish construction in the heart of Arab neighborhoods in east Jerusalem.
Some 180,000 Israelis live in east Jerusalem, the vast majority in Jewish neighborhoods that ring the area. But an estimated 2,000 Israeli nationalists live deep inside Arab neighborhoods, creating friction between the sides.
An estimated 250,000 Palestinians live in Arab neighborhoods of the city. A halt to Israeli housing activity in these areas, while short of US and Palestinian demands for a freeze in all of east Jerusalem, would nonetheless mark a concession by Israel.
Netanyahu would have a hard time selling even limited concessions to his government, a coalition dominated by hard-line nationalist parties.
"It is just impossible and unacceptable that people try to impress us that we should limit construction in Jerusalem," Benny Begin, a senior Cabinet minister, told foreign reporters and diplomats Thursday.
The status of east Jerusalem is the most explosive issue dividing Israelis and Palestinians. Israel captured the area -- home to key Jewish, Muslim and Christian holy sites -- in the 1967 Mideast war and immediately annexed it. The annexation has never been internationally recognized.
Mitchell arrived late Thursday for his first visit since the spat with Israel erupted during Biden's visit in early March. He was scheduled to meet separately with Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday.
Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat called the Netanyahu position on Jerusalem "very unfortunate" and said he hoped the US "will be able to convince the Israeli government to give peace a chance by halting settlement construction in east Jerusalem and elsewhere."
Nonetheless, he left the door open to resuming talks. Asked if anything short of an east Jerusalem construction freeze would bring the Palestinians back to the negotiating table, he said it would depend on what Netanyahu told the Americans.
Another Palestinian official said Abbas planned to bring any proposal to the 22-member Arab League — a move that would give a stamp of legitimacy for restarting the negotiations. The official spoke on condition of anonymity pending a formal announcement.
Peace talks broke down in late 2008 after Israel launched a three-week military offensive in the Gaza Strip. The Palestinians have said they will not hold face-to-face talks with Netanyahu until he freezes all settlement activity in east Jerusalem and the West Bank. Netanyahu so far has curbed only West Bank construction in a temporary freeze.
The indirect talks, to be personally mediated by Mitchell, are meant as a way to break the deadlock.
Last week, Obama issued a surprisingly pessimistic assessment of peacemaking prospects, saying the US couldn't force its will on Israelis and Palestinians if they weren't interested in making the compromises necessary to end their decades-old conflict.
