Bibi: Israel Can’t Ignore World Pressure on Settlements

By Jonathan Lis (Haaretz Service) February 28, 2011

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that Israel could not ignore growing international pressure over construction in the West Bank, but said that the government would preserve ongoing settlement activity to the best of its ability.

“We are currently making efforts to maintain the existing construction, but we must understand that we are [faced with] a very difficult international reality,” Netanyahu told ministers from his Likud faction.

Netanyahu was speaking one week after the United States vetoed a United Nations resolution condemning Israeli settlements in the West Bank and four days before Mideast Quartet officials were to meet Israeli and Palestinian representatives in an effort to jump start the peace process.

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