Israel News Today, via Laura Rozen, summarises:
Reports indicate that the US administration appears to have made parallel commitments to Israel and the Palestinians, offering them benefits and US assurances in exchange for Israeli consent to extend the construction freeze by 60 days and Palestinian consent to continue the direct talks.
According to another version, the administration offered Israel a comprehensive package of benefits in exchange for its willingness to continue the freeze in the settlements, and if Israel should turn down the proposal-it plans to offer incentives to the Palestinians to remain in the talks nonetheless. Yedioth Ahronoth quotes high-ranking Israeli officials as expressing surprise that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu appears inclined to reject the package of benefits offered to him by the Americans.
Another official opined that if it were up to Netanyahu alone he would consent to extend the freeze, but he is being subjected to great pressure. The US has reportedly offered Israel such benefits as security aid, help in combating smuggling to the future Palestinian state and support for leaving Israeli troops in the Jordan Valley. As for the Palestinians, the Americans appear to be planning to support their demand to base the negotiations on a return to the 1967 borders with a land swap.
In an analysis of the situation, Yedioth Ahronoth's Nahum Barnea examines the dilemma faced by the prime minister....According to this analysis, Netanyahu now has to find a way to persuade his cabinet ministers to vote in favor of extending the freeze-if he believes that maintaining a relationship of trust with President Obama is important for Israel.
Orly Azulai, also writing in Yedioth Ahronoth, states that the latest developments show that President Obama is signaling his intention to become involved in depth in the talks between Israel and the Palestinians, and if the efforts to persuade Netanyahu to continue the talks under the American terms should fail, the administration is likely to present its own peace plan....