(Haaretz).Israel is willing to carry out trust-building moves in the West Bank in order to facilitate peace talks with the Palestinian Authority, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly told U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday.
In a phone call between Netanyahu and Clinton, the Israeli PM reportedly conveyed a detailed list of gestures Jerusalem was willing to perform in order to restart negotiations with the Palestinians.
The Prime Minister's Office stated following the conversation between Netanyahu and Clinton that there was "a real effort by Israel to aid the U.S. administration in renewing negotiations though trust-building measures with the Palestinian Authority."
These measure likely include the release of Palestinian prisoners, the removal of West Bank checkpoints and perhaps even a willingness to transfer West Bank territories to PA control.
While the PMO did not mention Israel's response to a U.S. demand to halt the contentions East Jerusalem construction project announced during U.S. Vice President Joe Biden's Israel visit, a possible answer to that question may be found in a Washington Post report released earlier Thursday.
According to a blog entry by senior Post reporter Jackson Diehl, one informed by a conversation with Israel's envoy to the U.S. Michael Oren, Jerusalem had reportedly agreed to postpone the execution of the contentious Ramat Shlomo construction plan, while not canceling it altogether.
Netanyahu is expected, according to the Washington Post report, to tell the Obama administration that he cannot revoke the Ramat Shlomo expansion plan both for legal reasons and as a result of wide public support in continued building in Jerusalem.
However, according to Diehl's blog entry, Netanyahu will offer "assurances that the new neighborhood will not be constructed anytime soon; it is, in fact, two or three years from groundbreaking."
"Coupled to that would be an Israeli pledge to avoid publicizing further construction decisions in Jerusalem. The result would not be a freeze, but something like a 'don't ask, don't tell' policy for settlements," Diehl added.
The blog entry also claimed that Jerusalem had also made significant headway in formulating how Israel's envisions the proximity talks as taking place.
"The goal of both sides," ambassador Oren was quoted as saying, "at this point is to put this behind us, and go forward with the proximity talks as quickly as possible."
In a phone call between Netanyahu and Clinton, the Israeli PM reportedly conveyed a detailed list of gestures Jerusalem was willing to perform in order to restart negotiations with the Palestinians.
The Prime Minister's Office stated following the conversation between Netanyahu and Clinton that there was "a real effort by Israel to aid the U.S. administration in renewing negotiations though trust-building measures with the Palestinian Authority."
These measure likely include the release of Palestinian prisoners, the removal of West Bank checkpoints and perhaps even a willingness to transfer West Bank territories to PA control.
While the PMO did not mention Israel's response to a U.S. demand to halt the contentions East Jerusalem construction project announced during U.S. Vice President Joe Biden's Israel visit, a possible answer to that question may be found in a Washington Post report released earlier Thursday.
According to a blog entry by senior Post reporter Jackson Diehl, one informed by a conversation with Israel's envoy to the U.S. Michael Oren, Jerusalem had reportedly agreed to postpone the execution of the contentious Ramat Shlomo construction plan, while not canceling it altogether.
Netanyahu is expected, according to the Washington Post report, to tell the Obama administration that he cannot revoke the Ramat Shlomo expansion plan both for legal reasons and as a result of wide public support in continued building in Jerusalem.
However, according to Diehl's blog entry, Netanyahu will offer "assurances that the new neighborhood will not be constructed anytime soon; it is, in fact, two or three years from groundbreaking."
"Coupled to that would be an Israeli pledge to avoid publicizing further construction decisions in Jerusalem. The result would not be a freeze, but something like a 'don't ask, don't tell' policy for settlements," Diehl added.
The blog entry also claimed that Jerusalem had also made significant headway in formulating how Israel's envisions the proximity talks as taking place.
"The goal of both sides," ambassador Oren was quoted as saying, "at this point is to put this behind us, and go forward with the proximity talks as quickly as possible."
