[Beerinkol]

The settlements are one of the final status issues to be decided by negotiation according to the Oslo Accords. Freezing settlement construction is conceding in advance that Jews returning to their ancestral homeland is somehow wrong or illegal.

The Palestinians are also demanding that we agree to negotiate on the basis of the 1967 lines. This is conceding in advance that all of East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Gaza Strip are rightfully theirs in advance.

I can't wait to see what "harsh steps" await us!

Israel denied a request by the United States on Thursday to temporarily freeze settlement construction in order to promote peace talks with the Palestinians.

In a meeting with Interior Minister Eli Yishai, US Ambassador Dan Shapiro requested the freeze - a repeated Palestinian precondition for negotiations - in order to bolster political goodwill as the US tries to counter Palestinian efforts to seek full UN membership. source: http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=243358