Israeli Settlement Expansion to Continue

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu told his cabinet on Sunday that construction will continue in existing Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank. He intends, however, to remove about two dozen unauthorized settlement outposts and will not establish new settlements. The statements were made during Netanyahu’s briefing to his cabinet on the meetings held in the United States with President Obama and other officials. “We can't accept the idea that families will not bring children into the world, or that children will have to move away from their parents,” said the prime minister, while making clear that “there should be no doubt to our commitment [to remove the illegal outposts].” President Obama had made a call for all new construction to be stopped. This is the second time since returning from Washington that Netanyahu has highlighted significant differences with Obama. They also seem to disagree on whether Jerusalem should be included in treaty negotiations.