Netanyahu Says He’ll Not Reverse Jerusalem Policy
The Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu has said that he will not reverse his policy on Jerusalem, something that indicates that a row with the US over settlement building continues to remain unresolved, said media reports.
Netanyahu’s remarks came as he prepared to brief senior cabinet colleagues about the talks with President Barack Obama. The US has not made a comment.
The row is over Israel’s east Jerusalem project for construction of 1,600 houses. Palestinians want East Jerusalem as their capital and say they will not participate in US-mediated peace talks.
Netanyahu called on Obama on Tuesday and held further discussions on Wednesday with US Middle East envoy George Mitchell.
Obama administration has been trying to convince Netanyahu to commit to a number of confidence-building measures to renew hopes for indirect ‘proximity talks’ between Israel and the Palestinians.
Not much information emerged about Netanyahu’s talks with US officials but reports said quoting unnamed Israeli sources that the Israeli prime minister could not finalise any confidence-building measures until he presented them to his cabinet.
