The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered a freeze on publishing tenders for new West Bank settler homes to avoid hampering US efforts to renew peace talks, army radio reported on Tuesday. He informed Housing Minister Uri Ariel about the decision several days ago, before his departure for China, the radio said, according to AFP. Ariel, a settler himself, is the number two in Jewish Home, a far-right nationalist religious party which is a fervent advocate of Israeli construction on land seized during the 1967 Six Day War. Neither Netanyahu’s office, nor the housing ministry would comment on the report, which said the premier had gone back on a pre-election pledge to push ahead with thousands of new settler homes if reelected. The decision to build thousands of new settler homes in the West Bank and east Jerusalem was taken as a punitive measure late last year after the Palestinians won upgraded UN status, despite strong opposition from Washington and Israel. It was not immediately clear if the reported freeze also applied to construction in annexed east Jerusalem. The radio said that Netanyahu’s decision was linked to efforts led by US Secretary of State John Kerry to find a way to relaunch negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.