Israel ready to continue direct talks
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As Israel resumed settlement construction in the Palestinian West Bank after the expiration of a 10-month moratorium on Sunday, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said in New York Monday that Israel is "ready to continue the direct talks without preconditions."
![Construction vehicles work as the building of a housing project resumes in the West Bank Jewish settlement of Ariel, Sept. 27, 2010. The moratorium on Israeli construction in West Bank settlements, declared by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last November, expired at midnight on Sunday. [Yin Dongxun/Xinhua]](http://images.china.cn/attachement/jpg/site1007/20100928/000cf1bdd03f0e0b80fb33.jpg "Construction vehicles work as the building of a housing project resumes in the West Bank Jewish settlement of Ariel, Sept. 27, 2010. The moratorium on Israeli construction in West Bank settlements, declared by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last November, expired at midnight on Sunday. [Yin Dongxun/Xinhua]") |
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Construction vehicles work as the building of a housing project resumes in the West Bank Jewish settlement of Ariel, Sept. 27, 2010. The moratorium on Israeli construction in West Bank settlements, declared by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last November, expired at midnight on Sunday. [Yin Dongxun/Xinhua] |
"We think that the most important thing today is to keep the political process alive, despite all our disputes," said Lieberman.
The foreign minister made the statement following the resumption of direct negotiations between Israeli and Palestinian in Washington earlier this month.
Meanwhile, Israel has come under criticism for its failure to extend the settlement freeze in the West Bank.
In a meeting held on the sidelines of the annual debate of the 65th session of the UN General Assembly, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday expressed his "disappointment" to the Israeli foreign minister over Israel's failure to extend the moratorium of settlement construction.
In a readout of the meeting, Ban spoke to Lieberman of his " concern at the provocative actions taking place on the ground."
Lieberman defended the Israeli government's decision to resume settlement construction, telling reporters that throughout the moratorium "the Palestinians wasted time and completely refused to accept this gesture and accused Israel, saying it's fraud, it's not serious."
Meanwhile, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas flew to Paris earlier on Monday to meet with French President Nicolas Sarkozy as tensions run high over the peace process. The Palestinian leader has previously threatened to withdraw from the direct negotiations if Israel continues settlement construction activity in the West Bank.
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