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Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said "the fence is intended to help the peace process, not to destroy it."
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08/10
Haaretz |
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08/08
New York Times |
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| By Ellis Shuman August 10, 2003 |
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Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom stated today that Israel would continue building the West Bank separation fence despite comments by U.S. President George W. Bush calling it a "problem" because it makes it hard to develop a contiguous Palestinian state.
"I heard President Bush's comments that the fence was appropriate for a period in which there was terror," Shalom told Israel Radio. "We don't want to return to that period of terror... this fence will be very effective in preventing extremist organizations from carry out terror operations."
Shalom played down U.S. criticism of the fence. "We don't see eye-to-eye with the Americans on the route of the fence. The Americans want a different route, but they say that as long as the fence is related to our security and doesn't harm Palestinian lives, it can continue."
Shalom said that "the fence is intended to help the peace process, not to destroy it as the Palestinians claim. It is meant to prevent extremist groups from dismantling and ending the peace process. Therefore the fence will continue to be built. Of course we want to do all we can in coordination with the Americans, but friends can also disagree."
On Friday, Bush told reporters, "I've said the fence is a problem because the fence... kind of meanders around the West Bank, which makes it awfully hard to develop a contiguous state over time."
U.S. officials said last week that one means of pressuring Israel was to reduce the $9 billion in loan guarantees intended for housing and commercial projects. But no decisions have been made. U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said he objected to sections of the fence being built on land that belonged to somebody else.
The New York Times reported on Friday that Israel has agreed not to construct "problematic" segments of the fence until it reaches a compromise with the Bush administration. A senior Israeli official pointed out that Bush did not object to the fence in principle. The Americans objected to certain segments of the proposed route, including where it would jut eastward to circle around the West Bank city of Ariel.
"They believe that the same security production can be achieved by a different route," the official said. "On this particular portion of the fence we are working now to try to find some solutions."
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