Barak: Israel and US closer to deal on settlement dispute (Roundup)

Jul 1, 2009, 14:56 GMT

Jerusalem/New York - Israel and the United States are closer to resolving their dispute over Israeli settlement construction in the occupied West Bank, Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak said in an interview broadcast Wednesday.

He told Israel Radio that the dispute needed to be seen within a wider context, as part of a regional arrangement with the Palestinians and other Arab countries.

This was discussed during his four-hour meeting in New York with US Middle East envoy George Mitchell on Tuesday night, he said.

'We focused mainly on the need for a comprehensive regional agreement,' he said 'that includes other Arab states which have something to give to Israel, not just to take.'

The settlement issue, he stressed, was important, but needed to be placed in proportion.

The US is demanding Israel halt all settlement activity in the occupied West Bank.

But Israel insists on going ahead with construction inside existing settlements, to deal with so-called 'natural growth' of their populations.

Barak told the station that despite his insistence on allowing construction for natural growth, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's position in the dispute was not far from that of the Americans. The premier had said Israel will build no new settlements, nor will it expropriate any more West Bank land.

He added that the Obama administration's statements notwithstanding, no one in the US actually believed that 'we can stop pregnancies or not build kindergartens where required.'

A statement issued after the Barak-Mitchell meeting described the parley as 'constructive' and noted that more meetings are scheduled to take place.

Mitchell had originally been scheduled to hold talks with Netanyahu in Paris last Thursday, but the meeting was called off. At the time, an Israeli government official said this was to 'allow for proper staff work to be undertaken beforehand.'