Israel has rejected a White House request to freeze construction in Jewish neighborhoods in east Jerusalem but has agreed to a number of faith building measures in an effort to move negotiations with the Palestinians forward.
 

A report in the Wall Street Journal Thursday noted that American officials have met with Israeli officials in behind the scene negotiations in recent days in an effort to bridge the gaps and facilitate the resumption of talks.
 

In a recent interview with ABC, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said the U.S. Administration’s request to freeze construction is “totally, totally a nonstarter.”
 

U.S. officials said Netanyahu has agreed to release some Palestinian prisoners, and remove checkpoints in the West Bank and expand the responsibilities of Palestinian security forces, discuss borders and the status of Jerusalem in detail.
 

Netanyahu has reportedly agreed to resume talks without any preconditions.
 

Quoting U.S. officials, the paper said the lack of comprehension concerning a construction freeze in east Jerusalem may prevent the renewal of peace talks with the Palestinians.
 

“We have said that in the framework of confidence-building measures, we are willing to consider these gestures. That was in the past, and not in the context of recent talks. I can't go into why that didn't happen,” Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev told the newspaper when asked to comment on the situation.