US demand for Israeli settlement freeze tantamount to “extortion”: Schneller

October 1st, 2009 JERUSALEM - Fifty-six percent of American Jews support military action against Iran to prevent the Teheran regime from obtaining nuclear weapons, a new study has claimed. Thirty-six percent opposed such a move, according to the American Jewish Committee's 2009 Annual Survey of American Jewish Opinion.

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 21st, 2009 Aide: Netanyahu won't bend on settlementsJERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu won't bend on his opposition to a settlement freeze when he meets the American and Palestinian leaders in New York, a top aide said Monday. The tough Israeli line could signal trouble for Tuesday's summit, where President Barack Obama is bringing together Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in hopes of relaunching peace talks.

September 4th, 2009 Moussa: no to settlement freeze without JerusalemCERNOBBIO, Italy — The Arab League chief says any Israeli offer for a settlement freeze that doesn't include east Jerusalem is unacceptable and "will suspend the peace process." Amr Moussa spoke Friday at a conference on Italy's Lake Como. Moussa said a freeze of settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, which the Palestinians hope to make their capital, is a precondition for any meaningful talks between Israel and the Palestinians.

September 4th, 2009 WASHINGTON - US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Israel's plan to expand settlements in the West Bank was regretful and "inconsistent" with the international peace plan designed to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. "We regret the reports of Israel's plans to approve additional settlement construction," Clinton said in a statement.

September 3rd, 2009 Aide: Israeli PM considering settlement freezeJERUSALEM — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will approve hundreds of new housing units in West Bank settlements before slowing settlement construction, two of his aides said Friday, in an apparent snub of Washington's public demand for a total settlement freeze. At the same time, however, Netanyahu would be willing to consider suspending construction on most of the lands Palestinians claim for a future state for several months, the aides said.

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 JERUSALEM - Four days before travelling to London for a meeting with American envoy George Mitchell, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has told his inner cabinet that "significant progress" has been made on negotiations with the US over a settlement freeze. According to the Jerusalem Post, Netanyahu and his special emissary Yitzhak Molcho, briefed Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, Strategic Affairs Minister Moshe Ya'alon, Deputy Prime Minister Dan Meridor and Bennie Begin about the latest round of talks in Washington.o details of the discussions were released.

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.

August 20th, 2009 AMMAN - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Thursday the US administration of President Barack Obama was still adamant in its demand that Israel completely halts the building of settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories as a pre-condition for the resumption of peace talks with Israel. "We did not feel any retraction in the US attitude in this respect," Abbas told reporters after talks with Jordan's King Abdullah II.

August 4th, 2009 JERUSALEM - Even though last week's meetings between top US and Israeli officials was a significant step in strengthening the relationship between the two countries, Israel has clearly told Washington that zero construction in the settlements can not be sustained for long. Part of the problem is that Israel cannot agree to a settlement freeze without having "an exit strategy" for renewing construction if the diplomatic process runs aground, The Jerusalem Post reports.

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 4th, 2009 Barak, Mitchell to meet again on settlementsJERUSALEM — An Israeli defense official says Defense Minister Ehud Barak is to hold a second round of talks with U.S. special Mideast peace envoy George Mitchell next week in an effort to resolve differences between the two sides on Jewish settlements in the West Bank.

June 26th, 2009 Mideast Quartet urges Israel to halt settlementsTRIESTE, Italy — The Quartet of Mideast negotiators has called on Israel to freeze all settlement activity and to lift its blockade on the Gaza Strip. The Quartet — the United States, Russia, United Nations and European Union — met Friday on the sidelines of a meeting of the Group of Eight foreign ministers, who made a similar call for Mideast peace.

June 24th, 2009 PARIS - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Wednesday downplayed growing tensions with US President Barack Obama over Israeli settlements, saying it was just a spat between friends. "We have an unbreakable bond of friendship with the US," Netanyahu said in Paris after talks with French President Nicolas Sarkozy.