An Israeli minister has predicted there will be 10,000 new settlers in the occupied West Bank over the next 10 months and insisted that a moratorium did not freeze but only limited construction.
"Over the next 10 months the population of 300,000 will grow by at least 10,000 residents," said Benny Begin, a minister without portfolio from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party, in comments broadcast on public radio on Friday.
"Properly speaking, this is not a freeze. We are not planning to freeze life but only to impose certain limits on construction" in Israeli settlements in the West Bank, Begin said late on Thursday in Tel Aviv.
Over the next 10 months the population of 300,000 will grow by at least 10,000 residents
Begin is a member of the ministerial commission responsible for the implementation of the 10-month moratorium on new building permits for settler homes announced two weeks ago amid U.S.-led pressure to freeze settlement construction.
The moratorium excludes settlements in annexed Arab east Jerusalem and several thousand homes where construction has already started.
Its announcement drew criticism both from the Palestinians who say it falls far short of the total freeze they have been seeking and from settlers who oppose any restrictions.
Further controversy was certain to arise after the prime minister's office announced on Thursday that Netanyahu is pushing for some settlements to be declared national priority areas, which would entitle them to financial assistance.
The settlement issue has been one of the thorniest in Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts.
The Palestinians insist they will not return to the negotiating table unless there is a complete freeze on Jewish construction in the West Bank, including east Jerusalem, which they want to be the capital of their promised state.
WBank mosque attacked
From an initial investigation into the incident it appears that the suspects wrote hate-filled messages in Hebrew in addition to burning bookshelves and a carpet
Some Israeli settlers have denounced Netanyahu for betraying their trust, and several thousand held a protest demonstration in Jerusalem on Wednesday.
Palestinians in the West Bank village of Kufur Yasuf, near Nablus, said a gang of Jewish settlers forced their way into the local mosque on Thursday night, doused carpets and copies of the Quran with petrol, and set them ablaze.
Graffiti scrawled in Hebrew at the threshold said it was "the price-tag" -- an expression used by hardline settlers for systematic acts of vengeance against Palestinians.
The Israeli army issued a statement condemning the vandalism.
"From an initial investigation into the incident it appears that the suspects wrote hate-filled messages in Hebrew in addition to burning bookshelves and a carpet," it said.
The Israeli military "views the incident gravely and ... it will be dealt with accordingly by Israeli law enforcement agencies", the statement added.
Despite settler protests, some Israeli critics of Netanyahu's gesture have called the freeze a sham.
It applies to planned West Bank housing, but not to building planned for East Jerusalem -- whose annexation by Israel is not recognized internationally -- or to schools, synagogues and other community infrastructure in the settlements.
The measure was aimed at placating Israel's ally the United States. President Barack Obama began the year by demanding a total freeze on settlement activity but later relaxed his position and indicated a partial halt would be helpful.
Obama is pressing the Palestinians to resume peace talks.
Ideological divides run deep in Israel, especially over the future of some 500,000 Jews who live among 2.7 million Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, areas captured in a 1967 war that Palestinians want for a viable future state.
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