Netanyahu offers Palestinians talks on settlements

NEW YORK, (Reuters) – Israeli Prime Minister  Benjamin Netanyahu said yesterday he was prepared to discuss  “right away” the future of Jewish settlements if Palestinians  entered direct peace talks with Israel.

Asked on CNN’s “Larry King Live” if he would extend beyond  September a 10-month moratorium on housing starts in  settlements in the occupied West Bank, Netanyahu said it was  time for the Palestinians to drop preconditions for  face-to-face talks.

“Let’s just get into the talks and one of the things we’ll  discuss right away is this issue of settlements and that’s what  I propose doing,” he said.

Netanyahu was interviewed a day after a fence-mending  meeting with President Barack Obama at the White House, where  the Israeli leader repeated a call for a restart of peace  negotiations with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Direct talks on Palestinian statehood have been suspended  since late 2008. Obama’s Middle East mediator, George Mitchell,  has been shuttling between Netanyahu and Abbas in so-called  proximity talks.

The Palestinians insist on keeping Israel at arm’s length  until it makes certain things clear — namely, what size and  shape of Palestinian state is Netanyahu prepared to consider,  and will its Jordan Valley be free of Israeli troops?

Earlier yesterday, Netanyahu said on ABC television’s  “Good Morning America” that Israel was prepared to take  additional steps to ease Palestinian movement in the West Bank  to coax Abbas into direct peace talks.

“The point is, we are prepared to do them. But what we want  to see finally is one thing: We want President Abbas to grasp  my hand … to shake it, sit down and negotiate a final       settlement of peace between Israel and the Palestinians,” he  said.