President Obama has abandoned a two-year policy of trying to persuade Israel to stop some settlement construction as a condition for negotiations with the Palestinians, a major recalibration of the administration’s strategy for brokering a deal for a Palestinian state.
U.S. officials began telling reporters about the shift in strategy Tuesday after remarks from Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak revealing that the Obama administration had stopped asking Israel to commit to a three-month settlement construction freeze, citing in part distractions caused by the WikiLeaks crisis.
The strategy shift comes after nearly a month of hard-fought negotiations between Israel and the United States over the settlement moratorium. Palestinians have long complained that the construction is a pre-emptive move by Israel to redraw the boundaries of their prospective state even before talks have begun.
Israel had agreed to a 10-month freeze at the end of 2009 that expired in September, with the idea that the ban on new buildings in the West Bank — but not in Jerusalem — would entice Palestinian AuthorityPresident Mahmoud Abbas back to negotiations he broke off during Israels war in Gaza that started at the end of 2008.
Mr. Abbas did return to the bargaining table briefly, but efforts to establish a new process broke down soon afterward.
Palestinian officials were still absorbing the news on Tuesday.
“Until we see the details of this statement or this new position, our position is that the Israelis have an obligation to refrain from undertaking any settlement activity,” said Maen Rashid Areikat, the Palestine Liberation Organization’s representative in Washington. “This remains our position. Evidently, this is the United States‘ position, and we still are waiting to get more details until we can comment further on that.”
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