JERUSALEM: Jewish settlers on Friday demanded West Bank construction restart in September when a 10-month moratorium expires, urging Israel’s premier not to cave in to pressure at White House talks next week.
The Yesha Council, the main settler organization, launched a PR campaign, highlighting earlier statements from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promising that construction in settlement would resume after the moratorium.
The campaign, named "A promise is a promise," comes ahead of talks on Tuesday in Washington between the Israeli premier and US President Barack Obama.
"Netanyahu is travelling to Washington next week and will apparently faces pressure there demanding he extend the freeze," said a statement from the Yesha Council.
Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank — which the international community considers illegal — are a major hurdle in the already hobbled Middle East peace process.
The United States has been struggling for months to relaunch talks between Israel and the Palestinians suspended since the Gaza war of December 2008-January 2009.
The two sides have been engaged in US-mediated indirect talks since May 9, but efforts to move to direct negotiations after four months appear to be locked in a Catch-22.
The Palestinians have refused to move on to face-to-face talks unless there is a complete settlement freeze, including in east Jerusalem, while Israel says it will not extend the moratorium unless the Palestinians sit down at the negotiating table.
"Without direct talks there is now way we can extend the moratorium," the Jerusalem Post quoted Defense Minister Ehud Barak’s former chief of staff Mike Herzog as saying.
Israel in November imposed a 10-month halt to housing starts in West Bank settlements but the Palestinians said the move fell far short of demands for a complete freeze because it left out annexed east Jerusalem, public buildings and projects already underway.
Netanyahu has repeatedly said construction would resume at the end of the period and the settlers said their aim was to hold him to his word.
"As Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepares to travel to his meeting with President Obama, the citizens of Israel remind their government ministers: A promise is a promise, a date is a date and on September 26 we start building again," Yesha campaign posters said.
"They gave their word and their credibility is on the line," said Yesha chairman Danny Dayan.
"In the spirit of the World Cup, Netanyahu is traveling to an away game in Washington, and we are here to ensure he doesn’t score an own goal," Dayan said.
The issue of settlements has been a major thorn in relations between Israel and its main ally, the United States, particularly since authorities announced plans to build 1,600 new settler homes in east Jerusalem just as Vice President Joe Biden was touring the region in March.
