AFP - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is unwilling to make sufficient concessions on Jewish settlement building to stop the collapse of the Palestinian Authority, one of the Israeli architects of the deal that created it said on Wednesday.

"Netanyahu is set to announce in the coming days that he will accept a construction freeze in the West Bank settlements for 10 months but will exclude (Arab east) Jerusalem," said Yossi Beilin, who now leads the left-wing Meretz party.

"The Palestinians will reject the offer and this move will in effect mark a backwards step that will lead to a political vacuum and the dismantling of the Palestinian Authority," he said.

Beilin, who was one of the prime movers behind the Oslo accords of 1993 that created the Palestinian Authority, was receiving one of France's highest accolades, the Legion of Honour, from visiting Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner at the French embassy in Tel Aviv.

The opposition politician called for a complete freeze on all settlement construction in the entire West Bank, including annexed Arab east Jerusalem, for the next three months to build the necessary confidence for a relaunch of peace talks with the Palestinians.

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas has said he will not return to the talks, which he suspended at the onset of Israel's devastating offensive against Gaza last December, unless Israel accepts a total freeze.

But despite strong pressure from the United States, the Israeli premier has agreed to only limited restrictions and none whatsoever in east Jerusalem.