Peres: Settlement building stops if Palestinians start negotiating

Israel will stop building settlements once the Palestinians start negotiating, President Shimon Peres said.

Peres and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak met Sunday in Cairo to discuss efforts to restart peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.

Mubarak called on Israel to stop building on land in the West Bank and in eastern Jerusalem, and to take “brave steps” to advance the Middle East peace process.

Peres said the Israeli government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had promised to halt construction in the settlements once the Palestinians sat with Israel for talks.

“The minute we shall start to negotiate, there won’t be new settlements, there won’t be confiscation of land,” he said.

Peres called the settlements issue “marginal,” saying “it is some building of houses that became a central issue for the wrong reasons.”

“My answer is even this issue can be settled by negotiations and agreement,” he said.