In an interview with Italy's RAI TV, Netanyahu argued that demanding Israel to halt West Bank settlement construction was an obstacle to peace, because it wastes valuable time in which Israel could sit and negotiate with the Palestinians. Here's the quote: "I think that the more we spend time arguing about this, the more we waste time instead of moving towards peace."

Imagine a patient telling a doctor that insisting he follow a healthy diet is an obstacle to health, because it wastes valuable time that could be spent buying treatment for heart problems and cancer up the road. Imagine an automobile driver telling a traffic officer that demanding he drive carefully is an obstacle to safety since it wastes valuable time that could be spent treating crash victims.

It is common sense that if Netanyahu wants to bring about a "demilitarized Palestinian state," the first step should be to temporarily stop building on contested land. Negotiations must go hand in hand with a settlement freeze, if Netanyahu is to prove to Palestinian moderates that he is serious about pursuing peace.

Settlement construction makes the possibility of a successful negotiation less and less plausible every day. The larger the settlements, the larger economic and strategic liabilities they become for Israel. The larger the settlements, the more difficult it is to ensure Israel's future as a Jewish and democratic state.

The larger the settlements, the more Palestinians lose freedom of movement, become vulnerable to settler violence, and become deprived of privately owned land. The larger the settlements, the more Palestinian moderates are marginalized.

Shimon Shiffer reported in Yedioth Ahronoth Wednesday that the United States cancelled a meeting planned for tomorrow between Netanyahu and U.S. envoy George Mitchell. He quoted a high-ranking political source on the U.S.'s reasoning: "Once you've finished the homework we gave you on stopping construction in the settlements, let us know. Until then, there's no point in having Mitchell fly to Paris to meet you."

By making unreasonable demands such as complete Israeli sovereignty over Jerusalem, and refusing to freeze settlements, Netanyahu signals that he is the one wasting everyone's time. At the moment, it appears he is only half-heartedly committed to "moving towards peace."