Israel's incoming ambassador to the United States said Tuesday he was confident that his government will soon reach an agreement with Washington to allow some construction in West Bank settlements.
President Barack Obama, seeking to restart Mideast peace talks, has called on Israel to halt all construction on captured lands claimed by the Palestinians. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says existing settlements must be permitted to expand to accommodate natural growth in the populations.
Netanyahu's designated envoy to Washington, Michael Oren, said there is enough "wiggle room" to find "creative solutions" to work out a deal with Washington.
"I think there is flexibility on both sides and I'm confident that we can work this out. I think that both the Obama administration and Israel want to move forward on the peace process. We don't want to get caught up in this issue," Oren told the Associated Press.
"The goal here is to remove the settlement issue as an impediment to advancing the peace process, he said. "I think on the American side, there's an appreciation of that eagerness."
Oren gave no details on how Israel expects to bridge its differences with Washington. Netanyahu is expected to discuss the matter next week with the White House's Mideast envoy, George Mitchell.
The U.S. has long argued that settlements are obstacles to peace. Nearly 300,000 Israelis live in West Bank settlements, along with 180,000 Israelis in Jewish neighborhoods of east Jerusalem. The Palestinian seek both areas, captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war, as parts of a future independent state.
In a major policy speech on Sunday, Netanyahu for the first time said he supported Palestinian independence, though he attached a series of conditions rejected by the Palestinians.
He said a future Palestine would have to be demilitarized and that the Palestinians must recognize Israel as a Jewish state — in effect rejecting Palestinian refugees' claims to properties lost at the time of Israel's establishment in 1948. Netanyahu also ruled out shared control of Jerusalem and defied the American call to halt settlement expansion.
Netanyahu's speech was roundly criticized by the Palestinians, Arab leaders and liberal commentators at home who were disappointed by its many caveats and vagueness. Obama gave it a cautious welcome, noting "there were a lot of conditions" but that it raised "at least the possibility that we can restart serious talks."
The Israeli public, on the other hand, has embraced Netanyahu's message, according to polls published Tuesday.
The Haaretz daily said 71 percent of Israelis surveyed in a poll agreed with the content of the speech, though 67 percent said they do not think it will bring peace any closer. It said Netanyahu's approval rating jumped to 44 percent after the speech, from 28 percent a month earlier. The poll was conducted by the Dialog company and surveyed 504 people with a margin of error of 4.3 percentage points.
A second poll published in the daily Yisrael Hayom found 61 percent support for Netanyahu's position on a Palestinian state, with only 23 percent opposed. In the poll, 58 percent said they opposed the U.S. demands to freeze settlement construction. The poll surveyed 501 people and had a margin of error of 4.4 percentage points.
"I think that if you ask Israelis, its overwhelming across the political spectrum. People want the Palestinians to have their own free, independent lives. We don't wanna govern them. But we wanna make sure they don't have the powers to threaten us," Netanyahu said in an interview with CBS News on Monday.
Menachem Hofnung, a professor of political science at Hebrew University, said Netanyahu's speech generated great support because he is perceived to have withstood American pressure and defended vital Israeli interests.
"He raised his periscope, found the middle ground and aimed at it," he said. "His speech pretty much reflects the center of the Israeli political map."
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