The Israeli Cabinet was deliberating Sunday on whether to move forward with a proposal by the United States to limit the construction of settlements in the West Bank, in the hopes of kick-starting stalled peace negotiations with the Palestinians.
If the ministers agree to adopt the proposal, they would impose a 90-day moratorium that could open a window for the Israeli government and the Palestinian authority to hammer out the borders of future separate states, and outline where Israel can and cannot continue to build.
However, the proposal has already run into opposition.
Some of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's ministers said they were against the idea of instituting another settlement freeze, CTV's Scott Laurie said from Jerusalem.
A small party in Netanyahu's coalition also reportedly threatened to quit if the settlement curbs were imposed.
On the other side, Laurie said "the fact that east Jerusalem is not included in the settlement freeze is a point of contention" for the Palestinian authorities. "They want virtually all settlement-building stopped."
The Palestinians hope that east Jerusalem would become the capital of their future state, but the proposed settlement-building restrictions would apply only to the West Bank.
They did not reject the proposal, however, saying they will consider and consult with Arab leaders.
The deal includes "security guarantees" for the Israeli government from Washington, Lauries said.
"We hear that it could be in the form of 20 fighter jets, to the tune of $3 billion, but again these are only preliminary details that haven't been ironed out," he said.
Washington also said it would use its veto at the United Nations to head off attempts to hurt Israel during the year ahead.
Once the proposal was finalized, Netanyahu said he would present it to Cabinet decision-makers.
"Every proposal will consider the security needs of the state of Israel, both immediate needs and threats in the coming decade," Netanyahu said.
The U.S. had not officially presented the Palestinians with the proposal, said negotiator Saeb Erekat, but "they know we have a major problem in not including east Jerusalem."
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will put the U.S. plan to Palestinian decision-makers once he is presented with it, Erekat said, and will call for a meeting of Arab League officials before issuing a decision.
U.S. President Barack Obama has made resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict a major foreign policy objective, widely seen as key to reducing tensions in the region.
Three weeks of peace talks ended in late September after Israel resumed building settlements in the West Bank. A moratorium on Israeli construction in that territory had been in place for 10 months.
Conditions for peace talks deteriorated further last week, as Israel moved forward with plans to build 1,300 apartments in east Jerusalem.
The Palestinians have refused to resume negotiations while settlement construction continues. They have given the U.S. until late November to find a way to salvage the negotiations.
If negotiations fail, the Palestinians have said they seek recognition of a Palestinian state at the UN.
With files from The Associated Press
