Mideast Quartet urges Israel to freeze settlement activity, including ‘natural growth’

September 23rd, 2009 Israeli FM: US meeting proof firm stand paid offJERUSALEM — Israel's foreign minister says a meeting between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Palestinian and American leaders was a victory for Israel because it took place even though Israel refused demands to freeze settlement in the West Bank. Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman told Israel Radio Wednesday that the government "kept its promises to the voter" and showed it is not necessary to "surrender and give in." Israel agreed only to slow settlement construction in the Palestinian territory for a limited time.

September 3rd, 2009 Aide: Netanyahu considering settlement freezeJERUSALEM — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would be willing to consider suspending construction in the West Bank for several months — but first plans to authorize hundreds of new apartments there, an aide said Friday. The U.S. has been pressing Israel to agree to a settlement freeze, and the Palestinians have said they would not resume peace talks unless Israel suspends construction on lands they want for a future state.

August 28th, 2009 US seen easing Israeli settlement demandsWASHINGTON — The Obama administration appears to be backing down on its insistence that Israel halt all settlement activity as a condition for restarting peace talks with the Palestinians. While U.S. officials insist their position on the matter has not changed, they are now hinting that a less blanket moratorium would be acceptable provided the Palestinians and Arab states agree.

August 28th, 2009 Egypt: Israeli freeze must include east JerusalemSTOCKHOLM — Egypt's foreign minister says east Jerusalem must be included in a freeze of Israeli settlement activity before Middle East peace talks can restart. Ahmed Aboul-Gheit told reporters in Stockholm on Friday that Jerusalem is Arab "and it will continue to be so." He said the Arab world expects the area to be included in a moratorium on Israeli settlements.

August 23rd, 2009 Report: No sign of West Bank settlement slowdownJERUSALEM — There is no sign of a slowdown in the construction of homes for Jewish settlers in the West Bank despite Israel's announcement that it has stopped approving new building, the Israeli settlement watchdog Peace Now said in a report issued Sunday. Under U.S. pressure to freeze settlements, Israel indicated last week it had stopped green-lighting new construction projects, part of an attempt to bridge the gap between the two allies.

July 28th, 2009 Netanyahu, US envoy try to resolve settlement spatJERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. Mideast peace envoy George Mitchell are trying to resolve a public dispute over Jewish settlements in the West Bank.

July 27th, 2009 Report: Israeli settler population crosses 300,000JERUSALEM — An Israeli paper is reporting that the number of Jewish settlers in the West Bank is now over 300,000. The daily Haaretz says the number of West Bank settlers is 304,569 — a 2.3 percent increase since January.

July 20th, 2009 Israeli settlers set fire to Palestinian fieldsNABLUS, West Bank — More than 30 Israeli settlers, some of them on horseback, set fire to fields and olive trees and stoned Palestinian cars during a rampage in the West Bank on Monday, a Palestinian official said. Two Palestinians were lightly injured.

July 1st, 2009 Israel considering options to promote peaceNEW YORK — Israel is considering what it can do to enable a full-fledged Mideast peace process and Palestinian-Israeli negotiations to take off, including instituting a temporary freeze on settlements, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Tuesday. But after four hours of talks with U.S.

June 30th, 2009 JERUSALEM - Knesset member Otniel Schneller has termed the US demand for a settlement freeze as "extortion", which could impede Israeli readiness for peace. The Jerusalem Post quoted Schneller, as saying that Obama administration officials were holding beliefs shaped by "far-Left opinions outside of the Israeli consensus." Schneller, who has been involved in peace deals with the Palestinians and Jordan since 1994, wrote a letter to Defense Minister Ehud Barak ahead of his US visit.

June 28th, 2009 JERUSALEM - Responding to international demands that Israel freeze construction in the West Bank, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's media advisor said Israel would do so. "The government of Israel has already articulated that we will not build new settlements, nor will we expropriate further land for the purpose of settlement building," the Jerusalem Post quoted Mark Regev, as saying.

June 27th, 2009 Israel deflects calls for settlement freezeJERUSALEM — Israel deflected growing international demands for a settlement freeze Saturday, saying the issue should be dealt with in future peace talks with the Palestinians. On Friday, the Quartet of Mideast mediators and foreign ministers from the Group of Eight industrialized nations, meeting in Italy, called for a halt in construction.

June 26th, 2009 G-8 to Israel: end settlements, open bordersTRIESTE, Italy — A broad international coalition urged Israel on Friday to freeze all settlement activity in the West Bank and lift its blockade of the Gaza Strip, backing U.S. President Barack Obama's Mideast policy.

May 29th, 2009 WASHINGTON - US President Barack Obama has urged Israel to freeze Jewish settlement activities in the West Bank, reiterating Washington's support for establishing a Palestinian state. After meeting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the White House Thursday, Obama told reporters that Israel "must meet obligations" to halt Jewish settlement activities in the West Bank, and that Israel would recognise the two-state solution in its security interests.

April 27th, 2009 Abbas demands Israel halt building settlementsRAMALLAH, West Bank — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has delivered a tough speech on peace-making with Israel, saying there's no way he'll resume negotiations without an Israeli settlement freeze. Abbas also said Monday that Israel is defined by the borders it had before the 1967 Mideast War and "not one centimeter more." In 1967, Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem — territories the Palestinians seek for their state.