OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: Israel Wednesday ruled out a freeze on the building of new settler homes in East Jerusalem, defying world powers who have warned the issue risks wrecking fragile peace talks with the Palestinians. “There has never been a freeze on construction in Jerusalem and there never will be such a freeze - that has been the policy of Israeli governments for 40 years,” Cabinet Secretary Zvi Hauser told public radio. Plans to build 1,300 settler homes in East Jerusalem gained media attention Monday, during Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's five-day trip to the United States to discuss renewal of direct peace talks with the Palestinians. “It is inconceivable that there would be limitations on construction in areas where some 300,000 residents live,” said Hauser, referring to around 10 Israeli settlement neighborhoods located in occupied East Jerusalem. Peace talks have been on hold since late September when a 10-month Israeli moratorium on West Bank settlement construction expired, with the Palestinians refusing to talk until the ban is reimposed. – Agence France
