U.S. President Barack Obama's Special Envoy for Mideast Peace, former Senator George Mitchell, on Wednesday said that the United States welcomes Israel's moratorium on settlements, though they had asked for more. Mitchell's comments came just moments after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced in Jerusalem the launching of a 10-month settlement moratorium—a move that U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton touted, saying “today's announcement by the government of Israel helps move forward toward resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.” “We believe that through good-faith negotiations the parties can mutually agree on an outcome which ends the conflict and reconciles the Palestinian goal of an independent and viable state based on the 1967 lines, with agreed swaps, and the Israeli goal of a Jewish state with secure and recognized borders that reflect subsequent developments and meet Israeli security requirements.” But, during a news conference, Mitchell took a harder approach, saying that while the moratorium is a “positive development,” it “falls short of a full settlement freeze.”
