Netanyahu: Israel to stop building settlements in the West Bank

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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced that the Israeli government will not build any new settlements in the West Bank, a territory conquered by the country in 1967.

He made the comment during a meeting with settlement leaders, in which he said he is concerned about "the interests of the state".

He was quoted by Yediot Ahronot as saying: "The settlements can no longer be developed and we must preserve that which exist."

However, his Likud party released a statement saying that the leader did not rule out construction "in Judea and Samaria [West Bank]" and "he is promoting the settlement enterprise in a wise and responsible manner given a complex international reality".

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/netanyahu-israel-stop-building-settlements-west-bank-1510785

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1. Likud denies Netanyahu said West Bank construction frozen

The Likud party denied Tuesday reports that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told West Bank Jewish leaders that international pressure effectively froze settlement development in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

During a closed section of a Likud faction meeting Monday, the prime minister reportedly said Jewish settlements could “no longer be developed and we must preserve that which exists.”

According to local council leaders, Netanyahu made the remarks after a heated discussion regarding a building project in the settlement of Beit El that the High Court of Justice ruled would be demolished because it was built on private Palestinian land.

http://www.timesofisrael.com/likud-denies-netanyahu-said-west-bank-construction-frozen/

[geek tragedy]

2. "the rumors that I considered behaving wisely are completely false" nt

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3. I find all the little verbal games these guys play with each other amusing.

And how any suggestion of compromise gets immediately chewed to bits.