Israel will freeze construction in the West Bank until the beginning of 2010, the Israeli prime minister''s office has said, according to Israeli media.

The United States had asked Israel to order a one-year moratorium on building Jewish settlements in the West Bank to assist the Middle East peace process. The White House believes a moratorium would encourage Arab countries to move forward with the normalization of ties with Israel.

"The objective is to provide an opportunity for a Mideast peace process to gain momentum in hope that the new "waiting" tactic will allow international recognition of Israel''s sovereignty in Jerusalem and large settlement blocs," the Ynetnews news website said.

The moratorium was approved at a meeting between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Housing Minister Ariel Atias.

However, "right-wing ministers claim that this policy has been forced upon Israel and undermines the country''s sovereignty in areas over which there should not be any dispute."

Under the internationally agreed roadmap for Middle East peace, Israel is obliged to freeze all settlement construction activity and remove unauthorized outposts built since 2001.

Despite international pressure, however, construction of outposts has continued under what Israel calls "natural growth." The number of Jewish settlers living in the West Bank has risen 2.3% since the start of the year to 304,569.