Obama promises Palestinians he'll protect 'biblical heartland'President pledges to protest Jewish housing developmentsPosted: February 16, 2009
8:50 pm Eastern
By Aaron Klein
© 2009 WorldNetDaily
JERUSALEM – The Obama administration has pledged to the Palestinian Authority it will closely monitor Jewish construction in the West Bank and will protest any new housing developments in the biblical territory, a top PA negotiator told WND.
"They told us the White House will watch for any Jewish construction," said the PA negotiator, speaking on condition of anonymity.
"Obama knows that if [likud Chairman Benjamin] Netanyahu is the next prime minister, he will try to expand the settlements. They pledged to us this will be strongly protested," the negotiator said.
Although Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni's Kadima party captured one more seat that Likud in last week's elections, Netanyahu is considered most likely to form the next government, since he is reportedly able to forge the most stable coalition with other parties in the 120-seat Knesset.
Earlier this month, WND quoted top PA officials stating they received a guarantee from Obama's administration that understandings reached with Israel during U.S.-backed negotiations while President Bush was in office would be utilized as starting points for current and future talks with the Jewish state.
The PA officials said they were enthusiastic about the new tone of the White House and about recent meetings with Obama's Mideast envoy, former Democratic Sen. George Mitchell. They said they believe that under Obama the Palestinians can extract from Israel concessions reaching "much further" than during talks held under the previous administration.
"Regarding all understandings achieved between the parties, the Obama administration told us they will give guarantees to carry them out," said a top PA official.
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