Israel's Cabinet ratified Defense Minister Ehud Barak's appointment of Maj.Gen. Yoav Galant as the new chief of staff of the armed forces on Sunday, an official statement said. Galant, 51, commanded Israel's troops in the December 2008-January 2009 Gaza war. The former naval commando will replace Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi in February. Galant was appointed to a three-year term but the government has the option to extend it by a year, said a minister who participated in the vote. Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said a peace deal with the Palestinians will require a creative, new approach to issues that have defied resolution in past negotiations. Netanyahu, back from a Washington peace summit with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at which they agreed to try to reach a framework accord within a year, gave no hint in public remarks to his Cabinet about any new ideas he may have in mind. The talks, relaunched on Thursday amid skepticism in Israel and the Palestinian territories, face an early hurdle when a partial Israeli moratorium on housing starts in West Bank settlements expires on Sept. 26. Netanyahu has resisted extending the freeze, and Abbas has threatened to quit the negotiations if construction resumes. Palestinians see settlements on land Israel occupied in a 1967 war as obstacles to the state they seek. For the talks to succeed, “we will have to learn the lessons of 17 years of experience from negotiations and to think creatively - what's called ‘outside the box'”, Netanyahu told reporters at the Cabinet session. “In order to achieve practical solutions, we'll have to think of new solutions to old problems. I believe this is possible.” In an interview with Palestine Television, Abbas said the talks would focus initially on borders and security, issues that touch on the future of settlements and Israel's demands for measures to ensure a Palestinian state will not pose a military threat. “If there is progress in these two issues, I think the negotiations will continue, and if there is no progress, and Israel insists on halting the moratorium, I think the situation will be very difficult,” Abbas said. Abbas and Netanyahu are due to meet next in Egypt on Sept. 14 and 15 for negotiating sessions that US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also plans to attend. Israeli officials, speaking privately, have pointed to a possible compromise - new construction only in major settlements Israel intends to keep in any peace deal, which could include territorial swaps.
