Israel is mulling over a package of incentives offered by the United States in exchange for a 90-day cessation of Jewish settlement construction in the occupied West Bank.
The offer, believed to be worth $3 billion, including the supply of 20 F-35 stealth fighter aircraft – a fifth generation American jet which would allow Israel to enhance its air superiority over the rest of the Middle East – was put before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during recent talks in Washington.
According to sources in the US and Israeli administrations, the offer stipulates that Israel is to freeze the building of settlements in the occupied West Bank for 90 days in order to allow the Middle East quartet time to try and bring the Israeli and Palestinian sides back to the negotiating table.
The proposal, however, does not apply to East Jerusalem, a possible capital of any future Palestinian state.
Israeli newspapers have reported splits within the Israeli government over Washington’s offer. But Mr Netanyahu sought to allay fears by saying that the American proposal was “not yet final”. He said: “It is still in the process of formulation by our and US teams.”
Mr Netanyahu said that security for the state of Israel would take precedence over all other issues when his cabinet comes to decide on the merits of the final American offer.
“I insist that any proposal provides an answer to the state of Israel’s security needs both in the immediate range and against threats Israel will face in the coming decade.”
The Palestinian Authority declined to comment on the offer until it receives official communication about it.
A spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said: “An official Palestinian commitment will come only after President Abbas learns officially from the American administration what is going on between them and the Israelis.”
However, it is believed that the Palestinian leadership is infuriated over the American offer because the moratorium on the building of Jewish settlements in the West Bank does not include East Jerusalem.
Peace talks between the Israelis and Palestinians are deadlocked due to Israel’s ongoing construction of settlements in the West Bank, which is home to 2.5 million Palestinians.
Since Israel occupied the West Bank, after its victory in the Six Day War of 1967, more than 100 Jewish settlements, considered illegal under international law, have been built there.
