(Jpost).Intensifying the bitter diplomatic dispute with the Obama administration over the issue of a settlement freeze, Intelligence Affairs Minister Dan Meridor (Likud) insisted on Tuesday that Israel and the United States had a clear agreement dating back six years permitting Israel to build within the construction lines of existing settlements.
He said Israel had honored its road map commitment to a settlement freeze within the parameters agreed with the US, and that the Obama administration's refusal to acknowledge and abide by those understandings was deeply problematic.
"It is of great importance to us that what the [previous] US administration agreed to is not overlooked," Meridor said, at a press briefing in Jerusalem organized by The Israel Project organization, adding that the credibility of future agreements and understandings was at stake.
Meridor said Israel was anxious to resume substantive negotiations with the Palestinian Authority, and that the status quo was not in Israel's interest. But he said Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas had yet to take positions that would enable a solution to the Palestinian conflict. He quoted PA negotiator Saeb Erekat, who said recently that the Palestinians had no incentive to compromise, since so long as they remained obdurate Israel offered increasingly generous terms. So long as the Palestinians believed that to be the case, said Meridor, there would unfortunately be no permanent accord.