U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged Israel on Thursday to extend its freeze of construction in West Bank settlements, telling Channel 10 in an interview that such a move would be “extremely useful” in advancing peace negotiations with the Palestinians.
Clinton, who was visiting the region this week for a second round of direct talks between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Benjamain Netanyahu, suggested extending the partial freeze for even a limited amount of time.
“Where we sit now it would be useful for some extension, it would be extremely useful,” Clinton said in the interview. “I don’t think a limited extension would undermine the process going forward if there were a decision agreed to by both parties.”