Israel defied a surprisingly blunt US demand that it freeze all building in West Bank Jewish settlements, saying Thursday it will press ahead with construction. US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Wednesday that President Barack Obama wants Israel to halt to all settlement construction – including “natural growth.” She was referring to Israel's insistence that new construction is necessary to accommodate the expansion of families already living in existing settlements. Government spokesman Mark Regev responded by saying “normal life in those communities must be allowed to continue.” He confirmed that this meant some construction will continue in existing settlements. Obama's administration has been more explicit in its criticism of Israeli settlement policy than its predecessor. The US and much of the world consider the settlements an obstacle to peace because they are built on land the Palestinians claim for a future state. More than 280,000 Jewish settlers live among more than 2 million Palestinians in the West Bank. Regev said the fate of existing settlements will be determined in peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. He said Israel has pledged to build no new settlements and to remove unauthorized outposts in the West Bank. But even the limited step of removing outposts faces stiff opposition from the Israeli right. Settler news site Arutz Sheva reported Thursday that leading rabbis linked to the settlement movement had issued a call to soldiers to disobey orders to demolish the outposts. The new Israeli and the US leaders have strikingly different approaches to Israeli
