US Pushing Israel To Freeze West Bank Construction

US special envoy for Middle East is on a visit to Israel to help move the peace process forward and push Israel to halt new settlement building on a land that Palestinians believe belongs to them.

Israeli foreign minister has himself admitted that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces stiff resistance from his own coalition partners to providing allowances to the Palestinians.

At the UN on Tuesday morning, Avigdor Lieberman talked about long-term interim arrangement with the Palestinians rather than near-term statehood that they ask for.

In an unusual move, Netanyahu tried to distance himself from the foreign minister's remarks. The prime minister, who himself is a hardliner when it comes to issues related to the Palestinians, has vowed to try and finalize a peace deal in a year's time.

The Palestinians, on the other hand, say that talks are useless if the construction of settlements is not stopped on the land that they desire for their future homeland. They have also warned to boycott the negotiations if the settlement freeze is not reinstated.

In order to break the deadlock, Washington sent George Mitchell to the troubled region on Tuesday to ensure that peace talks go on, which have recently resumed following a two-year collapse. Mitchell will meet the Israeli prime minister on Wednesday and then Palestinian President Abbas the following day.

Abbas has given next week's deadline to the US to find a solution and will announce whether or not he will walk away from the negotiations after the meeting of Arab foreign ministers in Cairo next week.