By Vita Bekker in Tel Aviv Published: June 25 2009 23:40 | Last updated: June 25 2009 23:40 A planned meeting on Thursday between Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, and the top US Middle East envoy was cancelled in a further sign of a growing rift between Israel and its staunchest ally on the expansion of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank. Mr Netanyahu had been scheduled to meet in Paris with George Mitchell on the third and final day of his first official visit in Europe since his predominantly right-wing government took power in late March. An Israeli government official, who declined to be identified by name, denied reports in the Israeli media that the US put off the meeting amid differences on the settlements issue. The Obama administration has called on Israel to end its controvesial settlements programme. But the official said: “The meeting was cancelled at the request of Israel in order to allow for the proper staff-work to be done.” The Israeli official added that Ehud Barak, the Israeli defence minister and the leader of the Labor party, the only centrist partner in Mr Netanyahu’s hawkish coalition, will meet Mr Mitchell in Washington next week in a bid to reach a compromise on the settlements issue. US officials acknowledge that Mr Netanyahu and Mr Mitchell would have been unlikely to reach agreement at their meeting and that the meeting with Mr Barak offers a lower-profile opportunity to work through the two sides’ differences. Mr Mitchell is likely to see Mr Netanyahu on a trip to the middle east in several weeks time. Tensions between Israel and the US have escalated in recent months as Mr Netanyahu’s government rejected calls by Barack Obama, the US president, for a complete halt on the construction of Jewish settlements in the West Bank, territory the Palestinians want as part of their future state. Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, echoed Mr Obama’s demand for a total freeze on settlement activity when he met Mr Netanyahu in Paris on Wednesday. Mr Netanyahu has pledged not to establish new settlements in the West Bank but has insisted that Israel will continue to build in existing communities. Also on Thursday, in a move some analysts viewed as an attempt to fend off US pressure on the settlements, Israel said it plans to curtail its military incursions in the Palestinian cities of Ramallah, Jericho, Bethlehem and Qalqilya except in cases where it had information about militants in those areas planning to attack Israelis. An Israeli army spokesman said the decision was part of an attempt to ease Israeli restrictions in the West Bank and grant greater responsibilities to security forces belonging to the western-backed Palestinian Authority. He added that Palestinian forces would no longer need to co-ordinate most of their activities in those cities with Israel and would be active at all hours rather than just during the day. A senior Palestinian security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, dismissed the decision as a public relations “sham” and added that Israel should stop its incursions without exceptions, Reuters reported. Neve Gordon, a political science professor at Israel’s Ben-Gurion University and the author of a book on Israel’s occupation in the Palestinian territories, called the army’s move “meaningless” for the peace process. “Israel would prefer for the Palestinian Authority to do all the policing in the West Bank. It doesn’t mean that Israel in any way is committed to peace or withdrawal. They’re doing all this to stop the dictation by the Obama administration to freeze settlements,” he said. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009Netanyahu cancels meeting with US envoy
Friday, 26 June 2009
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