Netanyahu calls for ‘restraint’ amid claims of deal with US

Emphasising that Israel has an interest in pushing the peace process forward,Netanyahu urged his ministers to exercise “restraint” in commenting on the sensitive deal offered by the US in which the Jewish state is required to limit West Bank settlement building for 60 days in return for certain promises from Washington.

“We have no interest in causing an uproar. Neither do I have the possibility of denying the baseless media report,” Netanyahu said in an apparent reference to an Arabic media report claiming that he has agreed to a US offer to extend freeze on settlement activities by two months.

London-based Arabic daily,Asharq al-Awsat’s report came amid recent claims that US President Barack Obama had offered the Israeli leader an incentive package in exchange for keeping settlement construction at bay,a move which could quell Palestinian concerns over settlement building and consequently bring them back to the negotiations table.

“Efforts,mainly discrete ones,are made and we are expected to conduct ourselves in a restrained,discrete manner. If a decision will be made it would be brought before appropriate governmental bodies,” Netanyahu underlined.

Israel was “interested in achieving peace,” he said,adding that it was a “vital interest of the state of Israel.”

Asharq al-Awsat quoted Israeli sources as saying that Netanyahu expressed his preliminary approval to extend Israel’s moratorium on settlement building,conditioning such a move on a list of US assurances,which included a continued Israeli army presence in the Jordan Valley and continued political and military support by Washington.

The American incentives,reportedly said to have conveyed in a letter by Obama,but denied by his office,included a series of guarantees to prevent the smuggling of weapons and missiles into a Palestinian state,a lengthy period of interim security arrangements in the Jordan Valley and a comprehensive regional defence pact for protection from Iran to follow the establishment of the Palestinian state.