Netanyahu in Jordan, Hardens Settlement Conditions

Local Editor

"Israeli" Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made an unannounced visit to neighboring Jordan on Thursday for talks with King Abdullah II on the so-called Middle East process, palace officials said.

The rare meeting in Amman comes as US Secretary of State John Kerry is pushing to get the Palestinian Authority officials and "Israelis" to agree on a framework to guide talks forward.
"King Abdullah and Netanyahu discussed "peace" process developments in light of the current US-sponsored "Israeli"-Palestinians negotiations," a palace statement sad. An official revealed the talks took place on Thursday.

The palace statement said the meeting "seeks to make sure a progress in the talks would meet Palestinian aspirations and at the same time protect Jordanian interests, particularly final status issues at this critical stage."
Meanwhile, Netanyahu has increased the amount of occupied territory he wants to keep after any deal with the Palestinian Authorities, "Israeli" media reported Thursday.

Netanyahu's spokesman declined to comment on the report he had added a bloc of "Israeli"-occupied land.
That would leave 13 percent of the West Bank in "Israeli" hands, "Israel's" Army Radio said, a prospect. There was no immediate comment from Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
Netanyahu has offered to buy some of the settlement land from the Palestinians, but they had rejected such a deal, it added.

According to the report, Netanyahu told US Secretary of State John Kerry that "Israel" intends to hold on to the Beit El settlement enclave in addition to the Etzion, Maale Adumim and Ariel blocs it has long said it would keep.

Beit El, north of Occupied al-Quds, is next to the Palestinian city of Ramallah, where the Palestinian Authority run by Mahmoud Abbas is headquartered.

More than 500,000 "Israeli" settlers occupy West bank lands and live among 2.4 million Palestinians in the West Bank and East al-Quds.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team