Israel should reverse its decision to build 3,000 new homes in the West Bank, a spokesman for German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Monday. According to dpa, plans for the new settlement are undermining trust in Israel's "willingness to negotiate" in the peace process, since they would shrink the land available for a future Palestinian state, the creation of which Germany supports, Steffen Seibert said. The issue is to be discussed when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanjahu meets Merkel in Berlin on Wednesday, Seibert said, adding that Merkel was looking forward to "open talks between friends."