Qatar: We'll renew Israel ties if it freezes settlements

What Al-Jazeera Arabic won't say

The United States told Israel last week that [their] Gulf states Oman and Qatar are willing to renew their relations with Israel if it agrees to a moratorium on construction in the West Bank, Haaretz has learned.

The Obama administration has been pushing for a construction freeze in the West Bank settlements, which are illegal under international law. President Barack Obama's demand has been repeatedly rejected by Israel's government under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has refused to resume negotiations until Israel complies with a freeze.

As reported by Haaretz, Washington had proposed a one-year freeze to Netanyahu as a way to persuade Arab states to move toward normalizing ties with Israel. Haaretz has learned that the proposal was made by U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell in talks with Netanyahu, although the prime minister's spokesman dismisses this as "mere media speculation." More

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