Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Sunday that there has been no change in his stance regarding construction in West Bank settlements.
Speaking to Likud ministers, the prime minister said that he could "not go into details" about recently relaunched peace talks with the Palestinians, "due to the sensitivity of the matter." "Regarding the freeze, there has been no change in our position," Netanyahu said.
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He stressed his commitment to Israel's security needs, and vowed to ensure that "we don't end up with missiles being fired at Israeli civilians, like what happened after we left Lebanon and Gaza."
In the past days, Netanyahu's staff has displayed a similar stance. "We are not changing the substance of negotiations. The position of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu regarding the duration that was implemented in advance on the suspension of new construction in Judea and Samaria is known and has not been changed," the PMO said on Thursday.
Over the weekend,
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman spoke with his British counterpart William Hague and stated that Israel cannot continue the 10-month, West Bank construction freeze, scheduled to end on September 26.
"The Palestinians wasted nine months and in the tenth month of the
freeze they didn't come to the peace talks out of good will to reach a
peace agreement, but rather because they were forced to do so,"
Lieberman told Hague. "Those looking for excuses to derail the talks
will find them whether or not the freeze continues. We've done our part
and now it's the Palestinians' turn. Israel will speak with the
Palestinians, but without preconditions."