Israeli FM: No reason to extend freeze

Israel’s Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman insists that Tel Aviv has no plan to extend its partial freeze on settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territories.

“I do not see any reason to extend this moratorium,” he said during a press conference with Slovenian Foreign Minister Samuel Zbogar on Monday.

Last year, Israel imposed a 10-month partial settlement freeze, which expired late September.

Tel Aviv’s refusal to extend the moratorium put an end to direct talks between acting Palestinian Authority (PA) Chief Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The acting PA chief has stressed that he will not return to the talks unless Tel Aviv completely freezes settlement activities.

Lieberman said the PA should resume talks without any preconditions.

In a similar comment last week, Lieberman said that the word “freeze” must be erased from the Israeli vocabulary.

Palestinians argue that the settlement construction, which contravenes UN Security Council Resolutions 446, 452, and 465, is aimed at preventing the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.

Israel occupied al-Quds (Jerusalem) and the West Bank in the 1967 war and later annexed them in a move not recognized by the international community and the United Nations.