New U.S. plan for Mideast talks rests on border deal

JERUSALEM - Washington's new proposal for reviving Mideast talks, presented Sunday to Israel's cabinet, rests on the bold expectation that Israelis and Palestinians will be able to sketch a border between them in three months. That's the period the plan sets aside for a one-time extension of a ban on new construction in West Bank settlements.

The proposal was worked out last week between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. U.S. officials said Netanyahu told the administration that he supports the plan and will try to win approval from his cabinet.

But 90 days seems to be very short time to achieve what Israeli and Palestinian negotiators have failed to do in nearly two decades of intermittent talks, particularly since the current gaps between Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas are much wider than those in previous rounds.

The "borders first" approach could help defuse the dispute over Israeli settlement expansion on war-won land, which derailed negotiations just three weeks after they were launched in Washington in September.

A border deal, even in rough outlines, could delineate which areas Israel could expect to keep in a final peace deal and where it would thus be free to keep building homes for Jews.

But it's a risky strategy. The Palestinians have said they will not negotiate without a settlement curb.

Under the U.S. plan, Netanyahu would agree to a 90-day ban on housing starts in West Bank settlements, but not in east Jerusalem, the Palestinians' hoped-for capital.

Obama praised Netanyahu Sunday for considering another slowdown.

In exchange, the White House would pledge to ask Congress to sell Israel 20 stealth fighter jets for $3 billion and to quash perceived anti-Israeli resolutions at the UN over the coming year, Cabinet Minister Yuli Edelstein told The Associated Press.

At Sunday's cabinet meeting, Netanyahu portrayed the deal in a positive light, Edelstein said. Another cabinet member, Avishay Braverman from the centrist Labor party, said he expected Netanyahu to win approval if he pushes hard.