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| By Israel Insider staff December 17, 2007 |
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| Har Homa |
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In a decision that could create additional tension in U.S.-arbitrated peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, the Israeli government has indicated that it would not impede construction within built-up areas of existing Jewish settlements in Judea and Samaria (the "West Bank") although it would not expand beyond those areas, Reuters quoted Israeli officials as saying on Monday. The Palestinians insist that the negotiations required Israel to halt all settlement activity, including "natural growth."
The Bush administration has likewise urged Israel to stop settlement expansion, but it seems that some officials in Israel, apparently sensing the trap that the government has allowed itself to walk into, are trying to gain some "wiggle room." A senior Israeli official quoted by Reuters said: "We don't need American approval if we are doing something that we think, as a sovereign state, we should do."
"It doesn't mean people cannot go and live in existing settlements. Where there are vacant places, vacant apartments, people can go and live there with their families," he said.
"If somebody bought an empty lot in one of the settlements 10 years ago and he owns it, and he decides now in the year 2007, 10 or 15 years after he purchased it, to build on it, the government of Israel cannot do anything about it."
The official said it was unclear what "natural growth" included.
Israel said that it would not build on land that lies between existing buildings and the outer boundaries of settlements, officials said.
Israeli plans to build some 300 new homes in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Har Homa may be an early test. The senior Israeli official said the development plan there was approved 10 years ago by the Israeli government and called for 6,500 units, 4,500 of which are already being built and lived in.
"We told the Americans and the Palestinians that in those places, within the built-up line, Israel will continue to build, because there is no other way," the official said, adding that "If Har Homa will not be part of Israel, it doesn't matter if Har Homa is 5,000 units or 6,000 units, Har Homa will be dismantled."
The first meeting of West Bank chieftain Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert last week turned into a fiasco, a "tense" confrontation which the Palestinians exploited to vent their grievances, especially over Har Homa. The two sides were expected to meet again next week, reconvening on December 23 or 24.
In addition to requiring from Israel to end all settlement activity, the road map's first phase calls on the Palestinians to crack down on terrorist activities, including the requirement that they disarm militants. Israeli officials have said that implementation of any peace deal would be conditional on the Palestinians imposing security in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. "Before Palestine will be established, Gaza will have to comply with the rules that exist in the first phase of the road map," the senior Israeli official said. |
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