Israel fights back against Palestinian demand for settlement freeze

Independent:

An unyielding Benjamin Netanyahu was meeting President Obama at the White House yesterday as the US intensified pressure on the Israeli Prime Minister to rein in settlements in disputed East Jerusalem. But, in talks earlier in the day with Congressional leaders on Capitol Hill, Mr Netanyahu warned that peace negotiations could be delayed another year unless the Palestinians dropped their "illogical and unreasonable" demand for a full settlement freeze, according to his spokesman.

Unusually, the White House session was closed to reporters – ostensibly in order not to distract attention from the central event of the day, Mr Obama's signature of the historic healthcare reform bill. But, by not holding a press conference, or even allowing a few journalists into the Oval Office for the customary impromptu questions, the White House has avoided a public airing at the highest level of the continuing disagreement between the two close allies.

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"The Jewish people were building Jerusalem 3,000 years ago, and the Jewish people are building Jerusalem today. Jerusalem is not a settlement – it's our capital," Mr Netanyahu said, earning a standing ovation that contrasted starkly with the polite near-silence in which Mrs Clinton's strictures were heard.

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I have been saying for some time that the demands for settlement talks were illogical and premature. They should be a part of the negotiations and not a precondition to negotiation. In fact teh building of settlements should give the Palestinians an incentive to hurry up and negotiate a final status agreement. They just want to get the benefits without doing any negotiation, because they have no intention of reaching a deal anyway. That has certainly been their history and it does not appear that it will change.