News Brief

(IsraelNN.com) Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has instructed his bureau to freeze construction around Jerusalem and in Judea and Samaria, but used somewhat vague terms, according to IDF Radio. Among the sites that will be affected are Har Homa and Atarot in Jerusalem, as well as Ariel and Maaleh Adumim.

Olmert did not promise outright that all construction would stop, but said that "no new steps would be taken to influence what happens on the ground." Mahmoud Abbas saw this as a commitment to freeze construction. According to PA negotiator Saeb Erekat, "President Abbas emphasized the need to freeze construction in order to make it possible for final status negotiations to proceed."