Palestinian Official: US Told Netanyahu To Curb Israeli Settlement Building

By Staff Reporter
Posted on 07/12/17 | News Source: JPOST

Chief Palestinian negotiator says he was informed of the move on the disputed issue by American's peace team.

US President Donald Trump’s Middle East peace team told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that settlement construction must be limited, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said he was informed on Tuesday by members of the American peace team.

Erekat, PA General Intelligence Services chief Majid Faraj, and Palestine Investment Fund Chairman Muhammed Mustafa met yesterday with two members of Trump’s Middle East peace team, Jason Greenblatt and David Friedman, at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem.

“We discussed the issue [settlements] for a long time and…they [the Americans] said they told Netanyahu that restricting settlement construction is necessary,” Erekat told the Voice of Palestine, an official Palestinian Authority radio station, on Wednesday.

Greenblatt, the Trump administration official most intimately involved in discussions with Israelis and Palestinians, unsuccessfully tried to reach understandings with Netanyahu several months ago over curbing settlement construction.

However, in what was seen as a gesture to the Trump administration, Netanyahu announced in March that Israel would...read more at JPOST