![Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem, on July 2, 2023 [RONEN ZVULUN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/GettyImages-1382219993-scaled-e1688462266210.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1)
Israeli media reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told US President Joe Biden on Monday that he would limit the construction of illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank during. However, his officer later issued denials to various religious-right media outlets
Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that Netanyahu told Biden that he “did not expect the government to make further announcements of settlement construction this year or to legalise any additional outposts.”
But his office denied the reports to Israeli right-wing media outlets .
“Contrary to reports, there was not and will not be any freeze on settlement construction,” he said in a statement.
Ceasing settlement expansion and construction is seen as key to restoring Israel’s rapport with the US and agreeing a normalisation deal with Saudi Arabia.