A Palestinian worker stands on top of a construction site in the West Bank Jewish settlement of Maaleh Adumim, near Jerusalem, Tuesday, May 26, 2009. Israel scrambled Tuesday to sidestep President Barack Obama's demand for a West Bank settlement freeze with a diluted counteroffer to Washington. But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's compromise, to take down some squatter camps in exchange for permission to keep building in established settlements, was quickly rejected by hardliners in his own coalition. (AP Photo/Tara Todras-Whitehill)Israel Rebuffs US Call For Total Settlement Freeze -- Yahoo News/AP
JERUSALEM – Israel defied a surprisingly blunt U.S. demand that it freeze all building in West Bank Jewish settlements, saying Thursday it will press ahead with construction.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Wednesday that President Barack Obama wants Israel to halt to all settlement construction — including "natural growth." She was referring to Israel's insistence that new construction is necessary to accommodate the expansion of families already living in existing settlements.
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More News On U.S. Peace Efforts Between Palestinians And Israelis
Israel Insists on Some Construction in West Bank Settlements -- New York Times
Israel rejects US call over settlement work -- BBC
Clinton Promises New US Proposals for Mideast Peace -- Voice of America
Israeli Settlement Growth Must Stop, Clinton Says -- New York Times
U.S. wants no more Jewish settlement growth, Clinton says -- L.A. Times
Backers of Jewish Settlements Put Squeeze on Netanyahu -- Washington Post
Abbas pushing pan-Arab peace with Israel -- AP
Abbas likely to offer peace plan to Obama -- UPI
Abbas in U.S. to stress on stopping Israeli settlements, checkpoints in W Bank -- China View