The Associated Press reported on April 26 that according to several Israeli city officials’ statements on Monday, Israeli Prime Minister actually had frozen the construction of Jewish settlements plan in East Jerusalem. Media commentators thought that this reflects the needs of bridging the rift between the United States and Israel and laying the Middle East peace talks back on track.
In a matter of fact, the news that construction of new Jewish settlements plan in East Jerusalem had been frozen was from Israel municipal officials and a construction supervisor. They told the Associated Press that since March 9, Israel announced the construction of Jewish 1600 housing apartments in East Jerusalem, the committee responsible for approving such projects had not held any meeting on the project.
At present, it is not clear whether the approval process lead to delay in the project. And it is also not clear how long the delay will last. And Israeli officials refused to confirm any possibilities of the freezing form. However, two city councilors and one engineer responsible for overseeing major construction projects in East Jerusalem have confirmed that influenced by Biden events, procedures for approving new settlements have been stopped in fact. In response to this saying, the Israeli Interior Ministry spokesman Efrat Auerbach insisted that any delay was the problem within the government bureaucracy.
In accordance with some analysis, before long Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly claimed that they would never stop building Jewish settlements in East Jerusalem might be forced under the pressure of domestic hard-liners. From a Likud Party member, Benjamin Netanyahu’s opinion, he warned that the establishment of Jewish settlements might lead to the collapse of Israel's ruling coalition. Further analysis of the Associated Press expressed that in fact this action may be to fulfill the promise made to the U.S. Vice President Joe Biden which was the commitment to resume the Palestinian-Israeli peace process, in order to fix US-Israel relations.
At the same time, Obama has also promised that Washington will firmly adhere to the commitment to protect Israel's security, and determined to achieve a comprehensive peace in the Middle East.