We Keep, We Don't; We Build, We Don't

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today:

We live in a world that is undergoing a very major shake-up. As I have said, the entire region around us is in a state of instability, and is undergoing a political and security earthquake which we have not seen the end of. In this situation, more than ever, we need to ensure that we have solid security foundations upon which to defend the State of Israel.

Our security border is here, on the Jordan River, and our line of defense is here. If this line were to be broken, this would mean that it would be possible to bring in terrorists, missiles and rockets, and infiltrate them into Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa, Be'er Sheva and throughout the country. Our line of defense starts here and it has no alternative. There is no alternative to the IDF's line of defense. Therefore, in any future situation, and I say in any future arrangement as well, the IDF must stay here, i.e. along the Jordan River. This is the State of Israel's insurance policy. If this was true before the major unrest now shaking the Middle East and the entire region, it is doubly true today. The IDF must remain along the Jordan River."

Minister Dan Meridor yesterday:

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party would support the transfer of more West Bank land to Palestinian Authority control, Deputy Prime Minister Dan Meridor told Army Radio on Monday, calling such a move a vital Israeli interest.

Meridor's comments came following recent reports by sources in the Prime Minister's Office, according to which the premier was preparing to announce a new peace initiative, perhaps even during an upcoming U.S. visit.

Netanyahu last week:

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that Israel could not ignore growing international pressure over construction in the West Bank, but said that the government would preserve ongoing settlement activity to the best of its ability.

"We are currently making efforts to maintain the existing construction, but we must understand that we are [faced with] a very difficult international reality," Netanyahu told ministers from his Likud faction...he hinted that Israel should refrain from pushing forth new construction plans.

"I am the prime minister, and I am responsible for this state," said Netanyahu. "We could surely keep banging our heads into the wall, but that's not how I do things."

Nevertheless, Netanyahu said, the government would strive to ensure that the current settlement activity was conducted within the legal realm. "There is construction in Judea and Samaria," Netanyahu said. "It's true that in some places there are no tenders and that is being checked, but we are currently making efforts to maintain the existing construction."

^