Israeli FM Pushes for New Construction 09/06 09:55

   JERUSALEM (AP) -- Israel's hard-line foreign minister said Monday that his 
party will try to block any extension of Israel's settlement slowdown, a move 
that could derail the recently launched Mideast peace negotiations.

   Avigdor Lieberman said the Israeli government must keep its promise to 
voters that the 10-month slowdown, declared last November under U.S. pressure 
in order to draw the Palestinians to the negotiating table, will end as 
scheduled at the end of the month.

   The Sept. 26 deadline is a challenge for the fragile talks launched in 
Washington last week. The Palestinians say they will quit the talks if 
settlement construction accelerates, but not ending the slowdown could 
potentially bring down the Israeli government. Prime Minister Benjamin 
Netanyahu has yet to say how he will handle the deadline.

   "A promise is a promise," Lieberman told Israel Radio. "We will not agree to 
any extension."

   "I promise that if there's a proposal that we don't accept it will not 
pass," he added.

   Lieberman's Yisrael Beitenu party is a key member of Israel's governing 
coalition, which is led by Netanyahu's Likud party.

   It holds 15 seats in parliament, making it the second-largest member of the 
coalition and giving it the ability to rob the government of its parliamentary 
majority if it pulls out. Other coalition partners, and members of Netanyahu's 
own party, also favor resuming construction.

   In a sign that compromise was possible, however, Lieberman told the daily 
Yediot Ahronot that he would not quit the coalition even if he does not get his 
way.

   "We will not leave or bring down the government. We will fight from the 
inside for what we believe," he told the paper.

   At the summit marking the relaunch of peace talks in Washington last week, 
Netanyahu used unusually warm language about the Palestinian leadership and the 
chances for peace. But the Israeli foreign minister has been vocal in his 
pessimism.

   Speaking to diplomats in Jerusalem on Monday, Lieberman said the stated goal 
of the talks --- a peace agreement within one year --- was unrealistic.

   The Israeli government says construction in settlements continued during 
previous rounds of peace talks, and that building does not compromise a future 
deal.

   Lieberman's party ran on a platform that questioned the loyalty of Israel's 
one-fifth Arab minority, and Lieberman, known for blunt and often unpredictable 
language, is perhaps Israel's most polarizing politician. A resident of a West 
Bank settlement himself, he has absented himself from active involvement in the 
peace talks, which are being conducted by Netanyahu's office.

   Vice Prime Minister Silvan Shalom, a prominent member of Netanyahu's party, 
said extending the slowdown would pose a "huge danger" to the coalition.

   "Within the coalition, there is a huge majority against it," Shalom told 
reporters late Sunday. He said the issue could only be resolved through 
negotiations.

   Netanyahu is seeking a way to get through the Sept. 26 deadline without 
dismantling his coalition, alienating the Palestinians or angering the U.S. 
administration, which is backing the talks and has invested time and political 
capital in their success.

   Netanyahu is slated to meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for a second 
round of talks next week in Egypt and Jerusalem. U.S. Secretary of State 
Hillary Clinton is also scheduled to attend.

   About 300,000 Israelis live in West Bank settlements, among the territory's 
some 2.5 million Palestinians. In addition, almost 200,000 Israelis live in 
east Jerusalem, the section of the holy city claimed by the Palestinians.

   The Palestinians and the international community say the settlements are 
obstacles to peace because they eat up land the Palestinians want for a future 
state.

   The slowdown has cut the construction in the settlements, though the extent 
of the drop is the subject of disagreement.

   According to official government statistics released last week, a total of 
only five new building projects were begun in settlements in the first half of 
2010, compared to 673 in the first half of 2009.

   Israeli advocacy groups tracking settlement construction dispute those 
numbers.

   The group Peace Now says building has begun on around 450 new housing units 
since the slowdown went into effect last November, around 300 of them in 
violation of the terms of the freeze. Peace Now says those numbers mark a drop 
of about 50 percent in new projects.

   Settlement expert Dror Etkes said government statistics show the number of 
units under construction overall in the first quarter of this year was 2,517, a 
drop of only 15 percent compared to the last quarter of 2009.

   Groups critical of settlement building say if the slowdown is revoked now it 
will have had nearly no effect on settlement construction in the long term.


(KA)