He has recently seized on settlement expansion as an issue.
Yet settlement expansion and the wall continue, as does violence against Palestinian civilians.
Now most expansion of existing settlements will be halted as well.
This was the eighth announcement of settlement expansion in six months.
The greatest impetus for land use changes is the expansion of settlements and road construction.
The Israeli government has repeatedly said that it would not freeze settlement expansion.
"The road map clearly says no expansion of settlements."
"One of the big obstacles to the peace process is the expansion of settlements."
The village has avoided the typical expansion of most British settlements which took place in the twentieth century.
New settlement building is already frozen, but Israel now permits the expansion of existing settlements to allow for population growth.