Word: netanyahu
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...Tension between the government and West Bank settlers has been rising since November, when Netanyahu's cabinet called for a 10-month pause in construction, in response to pressure from the U.S. and Europe to stop expanding its grip on territories captured in the war of 1967. Obama had hoped a settlement freeze would enable a resumption of peace talks, because the West Bank and East Jerusalem (together with Gaza) are seen by the Palestinians as the basis of a future state. But the settlers' concept of Israel's boundaries derives from the Bible, and they fear that the government...
...Despite their fears, Netanyahu's settlement freeze may actually help save the homes of the very people demonstrating against him. Already, the Israeli Prime Minister has used his gesture to blame the deadlock in the peace process on Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who despite U.S. prodding has refused to restart peace talks as long as settlement construction continues in East Jerusalem. (Netanyahu has exempted Jerusalem from his freeze, claiming all of the Holy City as Israel's and refusing to negotiate over its status...
...settlement freeze could also help get the U.S. and other Western powers off Netanyahu's back. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton praised Netanyahu's partial freeze as "unprecedented" even though she had earlier made an unequivocal demand for an absolute freeze with no exceptions. Now, with settlers staging demonstrations, their leaders muttering about civil disobedience and radical rabbis urging young soldiers to disobey orders that might conflict with their religious obligations to inhabit biblical lands, the Israeli leader can tell the West that he would face a civil war if he moved to dismantle settlements...
...Many settlements have staged civil-disobedience actions to prevent government inspectors from entering to make sure construction has halted, some merely by sending schoolgirls out to blockade the main gates. "We'll keep building day or night," an official at the Kedumim settlement told TIME last week. And even Netanyahu has said that when the freeze is over, construction can resume in the West Bank, where construction permits are granted at a higher rate than inside Israel, the Israeli activist group Peace Now reported on Wednesday...
...Having deflected international pressure on the Palestinian front, Netanyahu hopes to focus U.S. attention on dealing with what he believes is the real threat to Israeli security: Iran. He cites Iran's support of Hamas as reason to avoid relinquishing Israeli control over the West Bank, whose hilltops are well within rocket range of Israel's main cities. Israeli officials are hinting that if President Obama doesn't demonstrate rapid progress in his diplomatic efforts to shut down Tehran's nuclear program, he should step aside and let Israel's air force...