Israeli PM orders halt to building housing units in settlements

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered Tuesday night to halt the recently announced plans to construct more than 20,000 housing units in the West Bank and east Jerusalem. In a meeting with Housing Minister Uri Ariel (from Jewish Home) on Tuesday night, Netanyahu asked him to "re-examine the potential construction," which he said doesn't help the settlements but damages it at this time. "This step does not contribute to the settlements. This is a meaningless step - legally and in practice - and an action that creates an unnecessary confrontation with the international community at a time when we are making efforts to persuade elements in it to reach a better deal with Iran," Netanyahu told Ariel, according to a statement issued late Tuesday night from the Prime Minister's Office. Netanyahu also asked Ariel to coordinate such moves with him in the future. Ariel, on his part, explained these are potential plans and not formal and final ones. The commotion started on Tuesday, with the Ha'aretz daily reporting that Netanyahu ordered to call off 1,200 housing units planned to be built in the highly controversial E1 area, connecting Jerusalem and the West Bank. Building Jewish settlements there will block the continuation of land in a future Palestinian state. Israel's construction there in the past was highly condemned by the international community. The 1,200 housing units are part of the more than 20,000 homes planned to be built in other territories in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, which Israel annexed during the 1967 Mideast War. According to the Ha'aretz daily, the U.S. State Department pressured Netanyahu to halt the entire plans for construction. It also reported that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas threatened to call off the peace talks between the parties. This is a delicate time for Netanyahu's government in diplomacy, as the Prime Minister tries to recruit the world's support for keeping sanctions on Iran's nuclear plan, which he dubs an " existential threat" to Israel. Moreover, Israeli and Palestinian teams have been negotiating for the past three months in an attempt to reach an agreement to end the decades-long conflict between them. According to reports, Israel's repeated announcement of construction in the West Bank and east Jerusalem settlements are causing a rift between negotiation teams.