71.   Housing Minister Binyamin Ben Eliezer is due to present a full report on Jewish settlement building to the next cabinet meeting on Sunday.

72.   In his meeting Thursday with Ross, Arafat reiterated that Israel must halt in all settlement building before he will return to the negotiating table.

73.   Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated this week that he would not halt Jewish settlement building despite Palestinian and international condemnation.

74.   A recent visit by Netanyahu to Washington largely failed to break the deadlock, with the right-wing leader resisting pressure to call a halt to settlement building.

75.   According to Israel radio, Clinton will ask Netanyahu to order a freeze on all settlement building as part of a compromise deal with the Palestinians.

76.   But the Palestinian Authority reiterated that it would not return to political negotiations until all settlement building was halted, especially in east Jerusalem.

77.   Even in the midst of the corruption scandal Thursday, Netanyahu pledged that settlement building would continue in Jerusalem and throughout the West Bank.

78.   The Palestinian Authority insists it will not reopen talks until Israel freezes all settlement building.

79.   The Palestinians have demanded a stop to all settlement building, including at Har Homa, before returning to the negotiating table, a condition which Israel has rejected.

80.   The Palestinians wanted to see a total halt to settlement building, especially around Jerusalem, and not just the transfer of construction from one hill to another.