Apparently this will go into effect after the construction of the 455 they announced last week. An attempt to appease the settlers, the Palestinian Authority, and the US, this will no doubt satisfy none of the parties involved. The belief in the PA sitting down and contributing anything consequential to the process simply because Netanyahu agreed to a settlement freeze, is hallucinatory at best.
Appeasing Obama is a dangerous one way street. His recent declarations that American foreign policy should be rooted in "modesty and humility" and his apologies for an approach that too often sought to "dictate policy" while "failing to listen" seem to apply to everyone except Israel. A recent Smith Research poll taken on behalf of The Jerusalem Post shows that just 4% of Israeli Jews believe Obama's policies to be pro-Israel' a poll that, amazingly, was conducted before Gibbs' declaration last week that Obama "does not accept the legitimacy of continued settlement expansion and urges it to stop."
In exchange for putting a halt to construction, Israel wants the PA to end the incitement against Israel in the PA media and education system - the effect and policing of which appear complicated and difficult to assess, and is possibly a delaying tactic while the construction of the 455 settlements goes forward. A delaying tactic that Obama has permitted the Iranians to exploit by allowing them to continue enriching uranium during nuclear talks, essentially 'dribbling out the clock' while the existential threat to Israel continues unchecked. Those 96% of Israelis seem to understand the urgency of the situation best, perhaps they're the ones Netenyahu should be acknowledging.
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