Israel-Palestine: Peres Says Settlements Halt When Peace Talks Start

On Sunday, Israeli President Shimon Peres met with his Egyptian counterpart Hosni Mubarak in Cairo. Peres stated that Israel was ready to stop settlement construction in the West Bank as soon as negotiations with Palestinians started:

The minute we shall start to negotiate there won't be new settlements, there won't be confiscation of land. Unfortunately, it's a marginal issue; it is some building of houses that became a central issue for the wrong reasons. My answer is even this issue can be settled by negotiations and agreement.

Asked about Peres's words regarding settlements, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said that he was unaware of any new peace initiative, as he appointed the former ambassador to the United Nations, Yitzhak Levanon, as Israel's new envoy to Cairo.

Lieberman may be trying to ameliorate his personal image in Cairo through a new accommodation but Peres's dovish statement is still far from satisfying the people of the region. There was no clarification whether his promise would include a full halt of construction, given Israel's standard condition of "natural growth". Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated Peres's words so far yet he also emphasized that Jerusalem and "natural growth" would not be included in any deal with the Palestinians.