Arab League likely to reject temporary Israeli settlement freeze

Nov 15, 2010, 11:01 GMT

Cairo- An Arab League official said Monday that a possible three-month-long temporary freeze on Jewish settlement construction in the West Bank would be unlikely to be enough to prompt Palestinian and Arab support for Mideast peace talks.

'If the news is true about there being a settlement freeze that excludes Jerusalem and that takes the criticism off Israel, I cannot imagine that would be acceptable to the Palestinian side or the Arab side,' said Hesham Youssef, an official with the office of the secretary general of the Arab League.

He said the Arab League is waiting to see what Israel and the United States are going to offer the Palestinians before making any decisions, though. The Arab League is also mulling over alternative options to direct Palestinian-Israeli talks, one of which may include seeking United Nations recognition of a Palestinian state.

The Arab nations have made clear that, from their vantage point, talks cannot take place while Israel continues to build settlements on the occupied West Bank, a swath of land which would be the cornerstone of any future independent Palestinian state.

Youssef's remarks were made just one day after Israel's cabinet debated a proposal to freeze construction on West Bank settlements in order to force peace talks with the Palestinians out of limbo.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the ministers at the start of the meeting in Jerusalem that the plan was not yet final and 'is still being formulated by Israeli and the American teams.'

The plan, reportedly drawn up during a meeting earlier in the week in New York between Netanyahu and US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, would see Israel freeze construction for 90 days in exchange for US incentives.

For his part, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has insisted that the Palestinians would not negotiate until and unless a construction freeze is renewed.

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