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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| US and Israel strike settlement deal: report |
| 2009-07-09 |
| [Al Arabiya Latest] Israel has won an agreement from the United States for the continued construction of 2,500 housing units in Jewish settlements in the West Bank, an Israeli newspaper reported on Wednesday, despite U.S. calls for a settlement freeze. The unsourced report was splashed across the front-page of the Hebrew Maariv daily that said Washington had agreed to the continued construction of 700 buildings, containing 2,500 housing units, in West Bank settlements. A report in the Yedioth Ahronoth daily, Israel's most popular newspaper, was more cautious, saying Israel and the United States were "close to an agreement on settlements". It also cited the same housing figures. Yedioth Ahronoth quoted unidentified cabinet ministers, who attended Barak's briefing, as saying reports of a U.S.-Israeli deal had been sealed were wishful thinking on the part of the defense chief. The report followed a briefing by Defense Minister Ehud Barak to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on his talks in London on Monday with U.S. envoy George Mitchell on ending a rift with Washington over its demand for a settlement freeze. |
| Posted by:Fred |