U.S. Urges Israel To Extend Settlement Freeze

By Natasha Mozgovaya and Haaretz Service September 17, 2010

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.”

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