In what has become a predictable—and dreary—cycle, the Israeli government has announced new West Bank settlement building. Per Joshua Mitnick in the Wall Street Journal, the “move (is) intended to ease criticism of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over a planned release of Palestinian prisoners.”

The four prisoner releases —the third was slated for this week—are designed, according to Mitnick, to “help boost confidence in U.S.-sponsored peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.” He cites an unnamed Israeli official’s explanation of again coupling a prison release with the announcement of yet another West Bank Jewish settlement. “The civil administration is working on the building tenders right now.  It’s to offset the potential right-wing protests.  To show that we’re not just giving, we’re getting something.”

One can understand the political reality that Netanyahu has to hold together his ruling coalition which includes the nationalistic, pro-settlement National Home Party.  At the same time, if Israel and the Palestinians are ever to achieve agreement on a two-state solution, both sides should refrain from taking steps that could cause the current fragile peace process being brokered by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to collapse before its late-April deadline.

Both Democratic and Republican administrations for years have described large-scale new Jewish settlements in disputed territory “an obstacle to peace.”  One such housing development was announced months ago at the very time that Vice President Joe Biden, a longtime proven friend of Israel, was visiting the Jewish State.  Biden was furious over the timing and the already frosty U.S.-Israel relationship got even more testy.  Kerry himself had asked Netanyahu to hold off the construction plans, but Netanyahu is “pressing ahead with the construction plans in defiance” of Kerry.

To be sure, the Palestinian leadership is not blameless in the oft-repeated scenario.  When the Palestinian prisoners are released they have been without exception welcomed back to the West Bank as “heroes,” even though many of them were in prison for vicious murders of Israeli men, women and children.  The Palestinians have also failed to publicly show their appreciation for the political risks Netanyahu is taking by releasing the prisoners.

Bibi cannot be responsible for animus expressed by the other side, but he can control the timing and substance of settlement plans. Announcing major Jewish settlement construction in direct defiance of the U.S. Secretary of State only contributes to the climate of distrust that has hampered U.S.-Israel relations over the past several months, most notably over the Geneva deal on Iran’s nuclear program to which Israel vehemently objected.

Plowing ahead with more settlement building now undermines Israel’s position by surrendering the publicly perceived “moral high ground,” as Palestinian leadership takes advantage of each such announcement.  Mitnick quotes a Palestinian official as saying that the building announcements show that “the Israeli side is doing everything it can to make the negotiations not succeed.” Palestinians can argue, with some degree of legitimacy, that Israeli settlement growth is “gradually making the creation of a state in the West Bank impossible.”

Netanyahu agreed to and abided by a 10-month “freeze” on new Israeli settlement construction almost four years ago, which regrettably did not lead to progress in Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, in part due to a slow play by Palestinian leaders.  Now his “give then take back” approach imperils the U.S.-brokered effort to reach an Israeli-Palestinian accord.

Netanyahu, in non-consecutive terms, has served as prime minister more years than any of his predecessors, including David Ben-Gurion.  He has shown that he is a political survivor.  It would show that he is willing to be a true statesman by formally agreeing to a complete freeze on all new Israeli settlements to enhance the chances for a two-state solution that would clearly be in Israel’s long-term interests.

If by the end of April no real progress has been made in the peace talks, Israel will have plenty of time to re-visit its settlement policies.  We hope that Netanyahu will exercise enlightened self-interest and freeze any settlement plans at least until late April in order to give peace a chance.