By Xinhua
Jerusalem : Israel will announce a freeze on settlement construction in the West Bank prior to a US-sponsored Middle East peace conference, local daily Ha’aretz reported Wednesday.
The report quoted government sources as saying that the government will also declare willingness to dismantle illegal settlement outposts in addition to the freeze on settlement construction.
They said the decision came in response to a US demand, which called on Israel to make concessions on settlements in return for the attendance of Arab and Muslim countries, such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Indonesia, at the summit to be held in Annapolis, Maryland later this month.
“Of the two, a settlement freeze is easier than evacuating the outposts, because this only involves a declaration, not a confrontation with settlers in the field,” a government source said.
Recently, the US has increased pressure on Israel regarding settlements and outposts to compensate for its refusal to resolve the “core issues” in this autumn conference.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert Tuesday met with leaders of the Yesha Council, an organization representing the various municipal councils of religious Jewish settlements, for the first time since taking office.
He told the leaders that dismantling outposts and freezing settlements were written in the first stage of the “Road Map”, which has been accepted by Israeli government.
The Road Map, which was adopted by Ariel Sharon’s government in 2003, requires Israel to freeze all settlement activity and evacuate all outposts set up after March 2001 in the first stage.