what a joke. bibi is approving hundreds of west bank settlement construction, just before he agrees to a six to nine month freeze. of course, those hundreds are in addition to the 2,500 construction projects that are already in the pipes. and because these construction projects generally take longer than six to nine months if you measure from the initial approval stage through completion, it effectively means there will be no halt in west bank construction, even if netanyahu institutes a nine month freeze.
of course, bibi has the power to institute a real halt if he wants. he could put all pending projects on hold as part of the freeze. but he's not interested in a real freeze. this is more about managing an american president who is surprisingly more assertive on the settlement issue than any recent president has been. which means it's up to obama to say this bullshit freeze isn't good enough. i doubt he'll do that.
