Jerusalem - A meeting in Paris between President Barack
Obama's Middle East special envoy and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu has been called off amid the ongoing US-Israeli dispute
over settlements in the occupied West Bank, officials said Wednesday.
An Israeli government official who spoke on condition of
anonymity, told the German Press Agency dpa that the meeting, which
had been foreseen for Thursday, 'will be held at a later date to
allow for proper staff work to be undertaken beforehand.'
Defence Minister Ehud Barak is also scheduled to visit Washington
on Monday next week for meetings, the official said.
The meeting was to have taken place as Netanyahu makes his first
visit to Italy and France since he was sworn into office on March 31.
Israel Radio, quoted members of Netanyahu's entourage as saying
the parley was postponed at the request of the Israeli premier
because Israeli and US representatives had still reached no
understanding on the settlement issue.
Israel is pushing for a compromise under which it would be allowed
to continue to build inside existing settlements to accomodate
'natural growth.'
But the US has thus far stood firm on its demand for a total
freeze of all Israeli construction in the occupied West Bank.
According to the radio, the sides have held talks on the issue
over the past days.
It said Netanyahu decided to send Barak, of the dovish coalition
Labour Party, to Washington on Monday in a bid to conclude these
talks.
Israel Army Radio said the postponement of the meeting was decided
on before Netanyahu left for Europe on Tuesday. According to the
report, the premier held consultations in which it was decided to
wait on the Mitchell meeting until clarifications could be reached on
several issues between Jerusalem and Washington.
The United States is demanding a total freeze on all Israeli
settlement activity in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Netanyahu, responding to the US demand for a total freeze on all
settlement activity in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, has said
Israel will build no new settlements, and will not expropriate any
more West Bank land.
He insists, however, on the right to build in existing
settlements.
'We will not build new settlements, we will not expropriate land
to expand settlements, and we accept the principle that the
discussions about the settlements will take place in final-status
negotiations,' he said in Rome after meeting Tuesday with Italian
Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
But, he told the RAI television network, 'pending a final peace
agreement, the people who are there (in the settlements) will be
allowed to live a normal life. They have children, they need
kindergartens, they need health clinics and so on.'
The Israeli premier meanwhile ended his Rome visit and headed for
Paris Wednesday morning for talks with President Nicolas Sarkozy,
Prime Minister Francois Fillon and Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner.
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