Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made a “U turn” and halted plans to build 24,000 settler homes in the West Bank.<br /><br />The right-wing, pro-settlement leader said he feared an international outcry that would divert attention from Israel lobbying against a nuclear deal with Iran.<br /><br />“World attention must not be diverted from the primary goal – preventing Iran from achieving an agreement that would enable it to continue its nuclear military programme,” said Netanyahu.<br /><br />US Secretary of State John Kerry had called on Israel to limit settlement activity. An angry Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has been threatening to walk out of three-month-old peace talks brokered by Washington.<br /><br />Palestinians fear Israeli settlements in areas it captured during the 1967 Middle East war will deny them a viable state. While Israel cites biblical links to the area, most countries consider the enclaves as illegal under international law.
