JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu played down on Monday new Israeli construction on land Palestinians seek for a state, urging them to return to peace talks halted over the resumption of settlement building.

“The discourse about new building is an artificial obstacle,” said Netanyahu, who has resisted Palestinian and international calls to extend a partial construction freeze in West Bank settlements.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offered on Monday to renew a partial settlement construction freeze in exchange for Palestinian recognition of Israel as a Jewish state.

Palestinian officials swiftly rejected the proposal — Israel’s latest attempt to revive direct peace talks after the Palestinians quit the negotiating table to protest at the resumption of building in the occupied West Bank.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel is not closing the door on a further freeze of new construction in West Bank settlements after the Palestinians, backed by Arab powers, gave Washington a one-month window to save peace talks from collapse.

Much could depend on whether the United States opts to sweeten incentives to Israel to agree to a proposed 60-day partial building moratorium, Israeli political sources said on Sunday.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Two years after it was posted on YouTube, a video that appears to show an Israeli soldier dancing around a blindfolded and bound Palestinian woman detainee has gone viral on the Internet.

The incident, whose authenticity could not be determined independently, has drawn more than 400,000 views on YouTube over the past two days.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – President Barack Obama is “more determined than ever” to achieve Middle East peace, his envoy to the region was quoted as saying on Wednesday during talks in Israel aimed at salvaging negotiations with the Palestinians.

There was no sign, in a statement from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office as he met envoy George Mitchell, of any progress toward a formula that could avert a threatened Palestinian walkout over settlement building.

JERUSALEM/PARIS (Reuters) – Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday put off a threatened decision to quit peace talks with Israel, leaving more time for diplomacy to save negotiations from collapse over Israel’s settlement building.

The United States, France, Britain and the United Nations said they were disappointed that Israel had refused to extend the freeze on settlement construction ordered by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu 10 months ago to foster direct talks.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel let a moratorium on new building in settlements expire on Monday but Palestinians held back from carrying out a threat to quit peace talks, giving the United States more time to try to save the negotiations.

There appeared to be at least a one-week window for U.S. diplomatic efforts to avert what would be a major embarrassment for President Barack Obama — the collapse of a peace process launched at the White House just four weeks ago.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel let a moratorium on new building in settlements expire on Monday but Palestinians held back from carrying out a threat to quit peace talks, giving the United States more time to try to save the negotiations.

There appeared to be at least a one-week window for U.S. diplomatic efforts to avert what would be a major embarrassment for President Barack Obama — the collapse of a peace process launched at the White House just four weeks ago.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged Israeli settlers to act with restraint after a limited construction moratorium expires on Sunday, a plea that appeared aimed at keeping Middle East peace talks alive.

Netanyahu has resisted U.S. pressure to extend the 10-month limited freeze on housing starts in settlements in the occupied West Bank despite Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s threats to quit the negotiations launched on September 2 in Washington.