Jerusalem - Israel's premier savoured a victory on Sunday after Washington hailed his "unprecedented" stand on settlements and backed his call for peace talks to resume without the construction freeze sought by the Palestinians.
"There is no question that the United States are our staunchest friends and that Israel's firm stance on its positions pays off," Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon happily told public radio.
Speaking before the weekly cabinet meeting, Science and Technology Minister Daniel Hershkowitz said: "The US administration understands what we have always said - that the real obstacle to negotiations are the Palestinians."
The Israelis had reason to be glib.
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'The current Israeli government does not want peace' In a joint news conference held, unusually, before talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pressed for negotiations to restart as soon as possible, despite the Palestinian insistence - which Washington backed only a few months ago - that Israel must first stop all settlement activity in the occupied West Bank.
"What the prime minister has offered in specifics of a restraint on the policy of settlements is unprecedented," Clinton said at Saturday's news conference, adding that "there has never been a pre-condition, it's always been an issue within negotiations".
It marked a sharp easing of tone on the thorny issue.
In May, following US President Barack Obama's first meeting with Netanyahu, Clinton had said that Obama "wants to see a stop to settlements. Not some settlements, not outposts, not natural growth exceptions".
Israeli analysts said the change of tone came after Washington realised that its main ally would just not give in on settlements, supported by the vast majority of the electorate of Netanyahu's right-leaning government.
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