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Netanyahu calls for West Bank talks

His offers comes as criticism over west Bank construction mounts.

By Ed Adamczyk
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at an April 19, 2015 cabinet meeting. Pool Photo by Menahem Kahana/ UPI
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at an April 19, 2015 cabinet meeting. Pool Photo by Menahem Kahana/ UPI | License Photo

JERUSALEM, May 27 (UPI) -- For the first time, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu called for peace negotiations over Jewish settlements in the West Bank.

His focus would be on identifying which of the settlements in the Palestinian-occupied West Bank could be kept and expanded, an Israeli official said Tuesday. The settlements for Jewish residents are regarded as violations of international law by many countries.

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Since his re-election earlier this year Netanyahu has faced criticism from the United States and the European Union for his reluctance to renew peace talks with the Palestinians, as well as criticism for continuing to build settlements on disputed land. Arranging an understanding on the issue of settlements could maintain the pace of construction without angering Western allies or hard-liners within Netanyahu's government.

The Israeli official said Netanyahu, speaking Wednesday with EU foreign policy chief Frederica Mogherini in Jerusalem, offered to keep some West Bank territory captured in a 1967 war, and leave other parts under Palestinian control.

A Western diplomat commented, "Up until now, Netanyahu has refused to put any maps on the table, so in that respect it (the offer to Mogherini) was quite substantial. He was talking about borders in one way or another, even if it was based around the acceptance of existing settlement blocs."

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Saeb Erekat of the Palestine Liberation Organization's executive committee was critical of Netanyahu's offer, calling it "a request to continue illegal settlement construction with Palestinian consent. If Mr. Netanyahu wants to have meaningful negotiations ending the occupation that began in 1967, he should recognize a Palestinian State on the 1967 border and honor Israel's obligations including a halt of settlement construction and the release of the Palestinian prisoners."

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