Partial settlement freeze, minimal coverage

Israeli newspapers and wire services are reporting that Benjamin Netanyahu will announce a 10-month settlement "freeze" today.

I use scare quotes because the proposal will include the usual loopholes: The government will continue to issue building permits in East Jerusalem, and it will not stop construction on some 3,000 homes which have already been approved. So today's "new" proposal is actually very similar to Israel's previous proposals, which the Palestinians said they wouldn't accept.

Will the Palestinian response be any different today? Don't count on it: Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad told reporters that excluding East Jerusalem is a "major issue."

The timing of Israel's offer is interesting. I'm sure it was coordinated with the White House; it comes on one of the slowest news days of the year in the U.S. (everyone is focused on getting home before tomorrow's Thanksgiving holiday). So the offer -- and the American response -- won't get much attention in American media. It also might be overlooked by the Arab press, which is focused on hajj coverage.

So the Palestinians will probably reject the offer -- and the whole affair won't get much coverage.

Israel's offer is probably also intended to blunt criticism for last week's decision to expand the Gilo settlement in East Jerusalem. Haile Menkerios, the U.N. undersecretary-general for political affairs, told the Security Council yesterday that the Gilo decision deepens a "worrying impasse" in Middle East peace talks.

Barghouti interviewed; Netanyahu tempers expectations

A few other items for this omnibus Israel/Palestine update. The negotiations for Gilad Shalit's release seem to have hit a roadblock, according to Hamas, which said today that Israel objected to some of the Palestinian prisoners Hamas wants released. Al-Hayat reported today that the prisoners in question include Ibrahim Hamed, a former Hamas commander who ordered suicide bombings during the intifada, and Abdullah Barghouti, who pleaded guilty in 2004 to more than five dozen murders.

Marwan Barghouti still appears to be headed for release if the deal goes through. In an interview today with the Italian daily Corriere Della Sera (not yet available online), Barghouti praised Shalit's capture, and said he plans to run for president if released.

Netanyahu, meanwhile, is trying to temper expectations that a deal is imminent.

"There is still no deal, and I do not know if there will be one," Netanyahu said yesterday.

Oh, and here's Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas' interview with Clarin, an Argentinean daily -- Abbas is on a tour of Latin America -- in which he faults Obama for "doing nothing" on Middle East peace. Al-Arabiya has an English summary of the interview here.

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