Settlement construction has strained relations between the Obama administration and Benjamin Netanyahu - who is himself under pressure from his far-right coalition partner the Shas Party to EXPAND the settlements. Obama is counting on Netenyahu to help keep the talks moving as the US president faces the prospect of his Democrats losing their majority in Congress. The latest polls show the opposition Republicans posting an unprecedented 10 point advantage in the most recent Gallup poll of US voters. And that is certainly increasing the pressure on all sides to come up with a deal.