Israel approves settlement construction

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Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak has approved permits to build more than 450 new settlers homes in the West Bank.

Israel's Prime Minister, says the move is a prelude to a freeze in construction, but understands this latest move may invite international condemnation.

A Defense Ministry list shows the new homes will be in areas Israel intends to keep in any peace deal with the Palestinians.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has resisted a total freeze. He says the "natural growth" of settler families must be accommodated. Some 25-hundred housing units are currently under construction and Israeli officials say those projects would continue.

Danny Dayan, Umbrella Settler Organization Council, said, "There is no real option, not for Barack Obama, nor for Bejamin Netanyahu to freeze those 25 hundred; there is no legal way to do it."

The settlement issue is a major obstacle in the stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Netanyahu has offered to slow construction afterwards. However, that does not mollify the Americans or the Palestinians, who are demanding an immediate and total freeze.