A Dispute Not Settled

DEVELOPMENTS

A series of Israeli construction projects in West Bank settlements drew world attention this summer, further derailing the stagnant Israeli-Palestinian peace process, adding friction to the U.S.-Israeli relationship, and threatening to bring down conservative Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s young government less than 12 months after its formation.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has insisted on a complete freeze of settlement construction as a precondition for resuming Israeli-Palestinian peace talks that have stalled since a January war between Israel and Gaza’s Hamas leaders. U.S. President Barack Obama has also insisted on a complete settlement freeze. Netanyahu has tried to forge a tenuous middle path, authorizing the building of hundreds of new units in settlements, but then freezing construction for six to nine months as a sign of goodwill before peace negotiations.

Netanyahu and Abbas were in New York for September’s opening of the U.N. General Assembly and met with members of the Obama Administration. They seem to have made little headway, though, and no plan for talks has yet been announced.

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