News Manager
Milforums News Bot
By Jeffrey Heller JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel announced on Wednesday a partial freeze in high-level contacts with the Palestinians and also threatened economic steps after they signed international conventions, deepening a crisis menacing U.S.-brokered peace talks. Israeli government officials said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had ordered cabinet members, directors-general of government ministries and other senior officials not to meet their counterparts in the Palestinian Authority (PA). A spokesman for the PA, which exercises limited self-rule in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, said Israeli-Palestinian ministerial meetings were rare but voiced concern about the possibility of Israeli economic sanctions. The order does not apply to Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, Israel's chief peace negotiator, or to defense and security officials, Israeli officials said.More...