PA rejects Israeli offer of partial settlement freeze

[Jefferson23]

Israel and Palestinian Authority are now at a diplomatic stalemate.

By Shlomo Shamir and Barak Ravid


Top officials in the Palestinian Authority confirmed over the weekend a report published in Haaretz on Friday of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's offer to freeze government construction in the West Bank in return for the Palestinians' agreeing to resume direct peace talks.

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat told the Associated Press that the Palestinians rejected the proposal, which he said was delivered through a third party, because it only applied to building carried out by the state, whereas most construction in Jewish settlements in the West Bank is done by private contractors.

"If Netanyahu wants to resume negotiations, he has to say that settlement building will stop. Either it stops or it doesn't stop," Erekat said.

On Friday Haaretz disclosed that Netanyahu's offer was relayed to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas by Colombian Foreign Minister Maria Angela Holguin, who arrived in the region on Tuesday on a surprise visit, as part of an initiative by Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos to break the deadlock in the peace process.

Santos has called U.S. President Barack Obama and UN Secretary General Ban-ki Moon to brief them on what he said was the "progress" achieved by Holguin during her visit to Israel and the PA.

in full: http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/pa-rejects-israeli-offer-of-partial-settlement-freeze-1.391428