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Report: Netanyahu suggests negotiations on settlement bloc borders

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A report in Haaretz this morning suggests that during a meeting last week with European Union (EU) foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu proposed talks with the Palestinian Authority (PA) on defining Israeli settlement blocs in the West Bank.

During a joint press conference with Mogherini, on her maiden visit to the region in office, Netanyahu said publicly, “We want a peace that would end the conflict once and for all … I don’t support a one-state solution, I don’t believe that’s a solution at all, I support the vision of two states for two peoples.”

However, Netanyahu apparently elaborated in a private forum with Mogherini, Israel’s National Security Adviser Joseph Cohen and Netanyahu’s personal peace envoy Isaac Molcho. According to unnamed sources, Netanyahu wants to resume talks with the PA as soon as possible and suggested agreement on the borders of West Bank settlements as a first step. The article quotes him as saying, “It’s clear there are areas that will remain under Israeli control under any agreement, just as it’s clear there are areas that will remain under Palestinian control under any agreement,” and that, “Therefore, we can advance toward understandings on which areas we can continue building in, since in any case, they’ll remain under Israeli control.”

Mogherini reportedly said that the discreet discussion, in which Netanyahu implied limiting West Bank building, had been a success. However, she apparently added that she is “interested in also seeing steps on the ground that will back up your declarations.”

Netanyahu’s government engaged in a round of US-spearheaded peace talks with the PA which broke down in April 2014 after the PA announced a unity government with Hamas. Earlier this month, Netanyahu’s new government announced that it would “strive to reach a peace agreement” as part of its agreed policy guidelines and Interior Minister Silvan Shalom has since been appointed to head any future talks.