Netanyahu rushes to deny settlement freeze announced after Aqaba summit

Israel committed to halting new settlement projects Sunday during a summit in Aqaba, according to a joint communiqué issued after the meeting, though Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu swiftly denied there would be any construction freeze over the Green Line.

Israel agreed to “stop discussion of any new settlement units for four months and to stop authorization of any outposts for six months,” said the statement after the five-way meeting.

A senior official confirmed that Israel had told its interlocutors that there would be no additional announcements about settlement construction in the coming months.

But hours after the joint statement was released, Netanyahu tweeted that “the building and authorization in Judea and Samaria will continue according to the original planning and building schedule, with no change,” using the biblical term for the West Bank.

“There is not and will not be any freeze,” he continued. READ MORE