Netanyahu: Israel working on ‘settlement policy’ agreement with US

Jerusalem and Washington are working to find a formula for ‘settlement policy’ that works for both sides, Netanyahu said.

Israel is in the midst of a process of dialogue with the White House with the intent of agreeing upon key issues, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated during the weekly cabinet meeting on Thursday.

“We are in the midst of a process of dialogue with the White House and our intention is to reach an agreed-upon policy regarding settlement [Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria] construction. Agreed-upon for us, of course, not just for the American side. Naturally, this will be good for the State of Israel since we have not been in these processes for many years,” Netanyahu stated.

While President Donald Trump expressed general support for Israel’s presence in Judea and Samaria and even for construction there, he asked Netanyahu during his recent visit to Washington to curb the pace of expansion.

Netanyahu met on Monday for over five hours with Jason Greenblatt, Trump’s Special Representative for International Negotiations.

The two discussed Israeli construction in Judea and Samaria in the hope of, “working out an approach that is consistent with the goal of advancing peace and security.”

Netanyahu is slated to meet again with Greenblatt this afternoon.

Greenblatt is in the region for a week-long visit, “to do a lot of listening, discussing the views of the leadership in the region, getting their perspectives on the current situation and how progress towards eventual peace can be made,” as State Department spokesman Mark Toner put it. He added this is “the first of what could become many visits to the region.”

Greenblatt met on Wednesday with Jordan’s King Abdullah II.

‘Israel is Becoming a Global Power’

Mentioning his pending visit to China and his visit to Russia last week, Netanyahu declared the country “is in a period of diplomatic progress.”

“Not all of the problems have been solved and this is not to say that the countries agree with us on everything,” he conceded, and yet, “the great continuity of meetings, also with the leaders of the world’s major powers and the meetings with leaders who come here on a daily basis…and the ministers who also hold meetings here and abroad–show that Israel is becoming a global power in knowledge and technology, and is becoming an important element in the international arena.”

By: Aryeh Savir, World Israel News

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