Palestinians chide US on Israeli settlements

“If America cannot get Israel to implement a settlement freeze, what chance do the Palestinians have of reaching agreement’’ on the even more complex set of issues involved in final peace talks, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said.

“We are at a critical moment,’’ Erekat said. “The way forward, however, is not to drop the demand for Israel to comply with its obligations.’’

The US-mediated peace process, overseen by special envoy George Mitchell, is “in a state of paralysis, and the result of Israel’s intransigence and America’s backpedaling is that there is no hope of negotiations on the horizon,’’ said Nabil Abu Rudaineh, a spokesman for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

The comments represent what has been a shift in the dynamics since President Obama took office, with initial pressure on Israel giving way to apparent impatience over the refusal of Palestinian officials to resume peace talks in the absence of a settlement freeze.

The first months of Obama’s administration were marked by sharply worded demands that Israel stop building in both the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Palestinians consider the areas part of a future Palestinian state and say that a halt to settlements on Israel’s part would simply be fulfilling promises already made under previous international agreements.

The United States and much of the international community consider the West Bank settlements, home to some 300,000 Israelis, contrary to international law and an impediment to a final peace agreement.

Although Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel rebuffed the initial US demand, he offered alternatives that, while short of what the Palestinians wanted, were still characterized by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton over the weekend as unprecedented concessions made in hopes of helping direct talks resume.

Netanyahu, at the start of a weekly Cabinet meeting, said yesterday that he hoped the Palestinians would “come to their senses’’ and start negotiations without preconditions.

Previous direct peace talks have been held between the two sides even as settlement construction continued, and Netanyahu said he considers it counterproductive for Abbas to demand he take a step not required of his predecessors.

However, Obama’s election raised expectations among Palestinians and throughout the Arab states that the peace process would yield quicker results from an administration willing to openly criticize Israel and, it seemed, elevate Palestinian interests.

The settlement freeze has become central to those perceptions: Both Egypt and Jordan issued statements yesterday backing Abbas’s position that talks cannot resume until settlement construction is stopped.

Jordan and Egypt are the only two Arab countries that have peace agreements with Israel. The two countries said most of the blame lay with Israel, but signaled their unhappiness with the American shift on the issue.

Clinton is set to meet with Arab foreign ministers in Morocco in the coming days.

After taking office, Obama buoyed Palestinian hopes with his outreach to the Muslim world and an initially tough stance urging a full freeze to all settlement construction.

But after making little headway with the Israelis in recent months, Clinton urged Abbas on Saturday to renew talks without conditions.

Then, at a joint news conference with Netanyahu, she praised Netanyahu’s offer to curb some settlement construction.

“What the prime minister has offered in specifics on restraints on a policy of settlements . . . is unprecedented,’’ Clinton added. “I want to see both sides as soon as possible begin negotiations.’’

Material from the Associated Press was included in this report.