Israel draws rebuke over settlements

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas yesterday stuck to his position that he won’t negotiate without a freeze of Jewish settlement construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem — lands captured by Israel and sought by the Palestinians for their state. He spoke after meeting in Cairo with Egypt’s president, Hosni Mubarak, and its intelligence chief, Omar Suleiman.

“Without halt of settlements, there will be no talks,’’ Abbas said.

With the path to direct talks effectively blocked, it is not clear what the Obama administration will do next.

Israeli and Palestinian envoys were summoned to Washington for separate meetings with US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. She saw Israeli envoy Yitzhak Molcho yesterday, to be followed by talks with Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat tomorrow. Molcho also met Obama envoy George Mitchell for three hours, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said.

Clinton was to address the situation in a speech later today. US officials have refused to offer a detailed preview, but have said they expect she will express disappointment with the failure of the administration’s efforts to date. But, they said they expect her to stress that the administration has not given up and will continue to aggressively pursue a peace deal.

The officials said the hope is that enough progress can be made on security issues and setting a final border between Israel and a future Palestinian state in separate talks with both sides to pave the way for a resumption of direct negotiations.

Israel and the Palestinians launched the latest round of peace talks on Sept. 2. But negotiations soon broke down after Israel refused to extend a 10-month freeze on West Bank housing starts that expired at the end of September.

In recent weeks, the United States had tried to persuade Israel to extend a limited West Bank settlement freeze for 90 days, offering a series of security and diplomatic incentives. However, the negotiations over an extension broke down, and US officials announced earlier this week they had abandoned that approach.

Washington did not cast blame. But the other members of the so-called Quartet of Mideast mediators — the EU, the UN, and Russia — sharply criticized Israel.

“I note with regret that Israel has not been in a position to accept an extension of the [settlement] moratorium, as requested by the US, the EU, and the Quartet,’’ Catherine Ashton, the EU foreign policy chief, said yesterday.

“The EU position on settlements is clear: They are illegal under international law and an obstacle to peace. Recent settlement-related developments, including in East Jerusalem, contradict efforts by the international community for successful negotiations,’’ she said.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon expressed regret “that Israel will not heed the united call of the international community, as reflected by the Quartet, to extend the settlement restraint policy,’’ UN spokesman Martin Nesirky said.

“In spite of this setback, the secretary general believes it is more important than ever to promote a negotiated endgame for a two-state solution,’’ Nesirky said.

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak met yesterday with Ban in New York and told reporters he had sought UN help in restarting the talks.

Barak said it was ”an urgent necessity” that negotiations resume and said it was not the rate of settlement construction that was the problem, but suspicion and mutual distrust.

Israeli officials declined comment on the criticism.

In a meeting with Quartet envoy Tony Blair yesterday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said efforts would continue to reach a “historic peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians, two states for two peoples.’’ He did not give specifics.

Netanyahu also said he would work with Blair and the Palestinians “to have concrete developments in the field.’’