JERUSALEM (AP) – Israel's prime minister on Monday welcomed Washington's decision to abandon its call for an Israeli freeze on settlement construction, saying the United States now understands Israel and the Palestinians must instead address the major issues that divide them.

It was the first time Benjamin Netanyahu commented publicly on the changed U.S. policy, articulated on Friday by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. He spoke just ahead of the arrival of the White House envoy, who was returning to the Mideast to launch a new round of indirect peace talks after direct negotiations ran aground.
The U.S. acknowledged last week that it had failed to coax Israel into extending a freeze on Jewish settlement construction — a key Palestinian demand for holding direct negotiations.
The Palestinians say there is no point in talking if Israel continues to build homes for Jewish settlers in the West Bank and east Jerusalem — captured territories the Palestinians want for their future state.
Speaking to a business conference Monday, Netanyahu faulted the Obama administration for concentrating on a ""peripheral"" issue — namely, the settlements.