World

Settlements

Obama sets out guarantees
for 60-day freeze extension.

Washington/JTA

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26

October 7 • 2010

JN

he Obama administration
reportedly is promising Israel
broad security and diplomatic
guarantees in exchange for extending a
settlement moratorium by 60 days.
According to
an article posted
Sept. 29 by David
Makovsky, a senior
analyst at the
Washington Institute
for Near East Policy, a
letter from President
Obama to Israeli
Benjamin
Prime Minister
Netanyahu
Benjamin Netanyahu
pledges that the United States will:
• Not ask for additional extensions on
the partial ban on settlement building,
which expired Sept. 26;
•Veto any U.N. Security Council reso-
lution related to the peace talks during
the yearlong period that the sides have
projected for coming to a final status
agreement;
• "Accept the legitimacy" of Israel's
security needs as defined by the
Netanyahu government, referring
apparently to the Israeli leader's
demand for a long-term Israeli military
presence in the eastern West Bank,
along the border with Jordan;
• Broker talks with neighboring Arab
states on a "regional security structure
a nod to Netanyahu's desire for coop-
eration on confronting Iran;
• Enhance Israel's security through
the sale of state-of-the-art combat
aircraft, and missile defense and early
warning technology, whatever the out-
come of the talks.
Makovslcy, who is close to Dennis
Ross, Obama's Iran policy chief who has
taken a leading role recently in reviving
the Israeli-Palestinian talks, does not
make clear whether the letter has been
sent. He refers to a "draft" version formu-
lated by Obama administration officials
in consultation with Israeli Defense
Minister Ehud Barak and Yitzhak
Molcho, a top Netanyahu adviser.
Netanyahu said Sunday he is "in the
midst of sensitive diplomatic contacts
with the U.S. administration" in the
effort to continue peace talks with
the Palestinians. In a statement at the
start of the weekly Cabinet meeting,
Netanyahu called the direct peace
negotiations begun one month ago "a
vital interest for the State of Israel:' He

urged his ministers to "be patient, act
responsibly, calmly and — above all —
quietly."
The London-based Arabic language
Asharq al-Awsat newspaper cited Israeli
officials Monday in its report saying
that Netanyahu has agreed to extend
the building freeze by 60 days in return
for an incentive package from the
Obama administration. At least half
of Netanyahu's 30-member Cabinet
opposes reinstating the construction
freeze, according to a poll in the daily
Yediot Achronot.
Talks launched on Sept. 2 have
already hit their first snag in the dis-
pute over the settlement freeze exten-
sion. Netanyahu, who imposed the
partial freeze on West Bank building
last December to lure the Palestinians
to the talks, has refused to extend it,
saying that breaking his promise not to
do so would damage his credibility.
Palestinian Authority Prime Minister
Mahmoud Abbas has interrupted the
talks to consult with Arab leaders over
whether he should stay at the table; he
has suggested that his inclination is to
continue talks.
Netanyahu until now has cited his
right-wing base as a reason for holding
fast on settlements. The broader Israeli
public, however, in the past has penalized
Israeli leaders who risk the security rela-
tionship with Israel's most important ally.
Ross and another White House offi-
cial told a group of Jewish U.S. senators
on Sept. 29 that the White House was
seeking the 60-day extension. Sen.
Carl Levin, D-Mich., who convened the
meeting, told Foreign Policy's The Cable
column that Ross and Susan Sher,
Obama's liaison to the Jewish com-
munity, outlined for the senators their
efforts to smooth the crisis.
Meanwhile, Palestinian leaders
said Israel must extend a settlement
freeze for peace talks to continue. On
Saturday, Abbas convened a meeting of
more than 30 Palestinian leaders in the
West Bank city of Ramallah.
"The leadership confirms that the
resumption of talks requires tangible
steps, the first of them a freeze on set-
tlements," the New York Times quoted
Yasser Abed Rabbo, a top Palestinian
negotiator, as saying. "The Palestinian
leadership holds Israel responsible for
obstructing the negotiations:'
The decision was not final; that will
not come until Abbas consults with the
Arab League on Oct. 8.

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