The Jerusalem Post reports that “Senior officials in Netanyahu’s office said the exact terms of a [settlement] freeze would have to be worked out, since there had been a number of unwritten understandings on this matter with the previous administration. For instance, Israel has been working on the assumption that, with tacit agreement from the US, it may build inside the lines of existing settlements in the large settlement blocs that it believes it will retain under any future diplomatic agreement....The settlement issue was expected to be one of the top ones dealt with in working groups that have been set up between the US and Israel to discuss a wide range of topics. Israeli sources said work in these groups had already started.”
I am told that my own article on previous understandings between the Bush and Sharon Administrations about the terms of a freeze on “natural growth” is one of the source documents that the two sides are discussing.
