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Ma'aleh Adumim
Last update - 23:33 04/09/2006
PM didn't know in advance of tenders for West Bank houses
By Nadav Shragai, Yoav Stern and Akiva Eldar, Haaretz Correspondents

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert did not know in advance of the tenders for building hundreds of apartments in West Bank settlements issued by the Housing Ministry on Monday.

The Housing Ministry on Monday solicited tenders for construction of 690 apartments in Beitar Ilit and Ma'aleh Adumim - the biggest such project approved by the Olmert government to date.

Defense Minister Amir Peretz had been advised in advance of the expected tender, but Housing and Construction Minister Meir Sheetrit assumed there was no need for special approval from the Prime Minister's Office, since the construction is planned for large settlements within consensual settlement blocs.
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Olmert had promised before the last election that he would act to expand communities within the large settlement blocs, including Ma'aleh Adumim and Beitar Ilit, as part of his "realignment" plan, intended to evacuate West Bank settlements situated beyond the separation barrier.

The evacuation plan has been supsended in the meantime, in the wake of the war in Lebanon, but construction is continuing.

Security sources said Monday that the construction plans for Ma'aleh Adumim and Beitar Ilit had already been approved last year, under the government of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz. The sources said the tenders for Ma'aleh Adumim are part of a larger plan to build 4,000 apartments in the town.

Israel wishes to annex Beitar Ilit, west of Jerusalem, and Ma'aleh Adumim, to Jerusalem's east, to the capital, together with Gush Etzion, Givat Ze'ev and others, in any final-status agreement with the Palestinians.

The ultra-Orthodox Beitar Ilit, with a population of about 30,000, is one of Israel's fastest-growing towns. Ma'aleh Adumim has some 35,000 residents.

Building plan E-1, intended to physically link Ma'aleh Adumim to Jerusalem, was suspended in response to American objections. Notwithstanding this, Israel began construction of a large police station in the E-1 area, intended to house the West Bank's police headquarters.

Peace Now director Yariv Oppenheimer said on Monday that the tenders prove "that Olmert's government is behaving like a right-wing government, for all intents and purposes.

"Instead of evacuating illegal outposts and suspending construction in the settlements, the government is building hundreds of housing units in the territories, and planning to legitimize dozens of illegal outposts. These acts violate Israel's commitment to the Road Map and Labor and Kadima's undertakings to their voters," he said.

The settlers' Yesha Council, however, welcomed the tenders and said it hoped more would be issued. Council officials said that construction in the settlement blocs has been acceped by most Zionist parties, including Labor, the Likud and Kadima, and that the public is tired of Peace Now's attempt to portray construction in these areas as a provocation.

Officials in the Ma'aleh Adumim municipality said that construction in the town strengthens Jerusalem and urged joining the town to the capital.

Housing Ministry spokesman Kobi Bleich said the tenders were for construction within already built-up parts of both towns, not for new neighborhoods or outposts. Prior to Olmert's election, the government issued tenders for only 98 new West Bank housing units in the West Bank during the past year.

The approval of construction in the large settlements accompanies the Ministry of Justice outpost aurthorization initiative.

According to a recent Haaretz report, the Ministry of Justice has formulated a decision proposal according to which no illegal outposts in the West Bank would be evacuated. Instead, the state would legitimize the outposts and provide them with government funding, discarding the recommendations made by Talia Sasson in her report
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  1.   More than 100s through Samaria and Judea. 11:38  |  Vital 04/09/06
  2.   Madness 11:46  |  Traveller 04/09/06
  3.   BUILD,BUILD & BUILD...Its our land!!!!!!! 11:50  |  Ben Uziel 04/09/06
  4.   Vital--You are a clever idiot 11:51  |  American Jew 04/09/06
  5.   CONGRATULATIONS 11:54  |  Max 04/09/06
  6.   Anti-semitism 11:58  |  Brigitte Meier 04/09/06
  7.   damn scandal 12:02  |  Mickey Mouse 04/09/06
  8.   He is coming 12:08  |  Nasser 04/09/06
  9.   1. Vital 12:11  |  Mendel the Mean 04/09/06
  10.   the land is Israel`s; there is no turning back now ... 12:11  |  Theodor 04/09/06
  11.   Hint 12:12  |  Aron 04/09/06
  12.   This is what we want! To build on our land! 12:13  |  moish 04/09/06
  13.   Nasrallah is coming? 12:14  |  Theodor 04/09/06
  14.   Cheap talk about peace? 12:15  |  Tarif-es-Zaid. 04/09/06
  15.   Madness 12:18  |  Barrie the Zionist 04/09/06
  16.   Olmert, are you crazy????? Stop this!!! 12:20  |  Hardy David Stein 04/09/06
  17.   What a PR program we have! 12:27  |  Yoni 04/09/06
  18.   to Theodor - then the people are Israel`s as well... 12:30  |  SD 04/09/06
  19.   At last, some good news! 12:30  |  Roni 04/09/06
  20.   Build, build, build and build some more!! 12:34  |  Miriam 04/09/06
  21.   Settler Homes 12:37  |  Bill 04/09/06
  22.   Better put wheels under the new homes 12:39  |  sh 04/09/06
  23.   Nothing illustrates it better 12:40  |  David 04/09/06
  24.   Another Reason to Leave Israel 12:43  |  JS 04/09/06
  25.   marvellous news 12:49  |  herodotus 04/09/06
  26.   Give Israel to Israelis 13:12  |  Friend of Israel 04/09/06
  27.   #11 13:14  |  Observer+- 04/09/06
  28.   So Ya Want Peace, Huh? 13:19  |  john 04/09/06
  29.   settler homes 13:28  |  Aaron 04/09/06
  30.   THIEVES 13:29  |  Victor of europe 04/09/06
  31.   Give Israel to Israeli`s 13:29  |  raul 04/09/06
  32.   do as u pls 13:40  |  Nasser 04/09/06
  33.   Gaza & West Bank need protection of an armed UN force now! 13:41  |  Joe Average 04/09/06
  34.   Rightly So Olmert!! 13:51  |  King Leonidas 04/09/06
  35.   #32 Nasser is right, Olmert choose the way for Israel to survive! 13:54  |  H. Stein 04/09/06
  36.   ULTIMATE STUPIDITY 13:58  |  Iskander 04/09/06
  37.   RE: #15 Madness 14:07  |  Joe Average 04/09/06
  38.   This Is OUR Land & We`ll Build Where We Want To 14:16  |  Yishai Kohen 04/09/06
  39.   Olmert putting the final nails into the coffin 14:25  |  Osborne Reed 04/09/06
  40.   Olmert will give them back in a couple of years 14:27  |  tuna 04/09/06
  41.   Israel 14:33  |  Will 04/09/06
  42.   More Settlers home being built 14:35  |  Ely greenhut 04/09/06
  43.   # 31 Mr. Oxford 14:39  |  Friend of Israel 04/09/06
  44.   Tender to build new homes in West Bank Foolish 14:46  |  Linda 04/09/06
  45.   Money is not waisted if Israel build skyscrapers on shore 14:55  |  Robert 04/09/06
  46.   Stupid policy 14:55  |  jon 04/09/06
  47.   ITS ABOUT TIME 15:12  |  Dr David Grosss 04/09/06
  48.   not controversial--CONSISTENT w/ BUSH`S PLAN FOR SETTLEMENT BLOCS 15:13  |  Gush Etzion settler 04/09/06
  49.   #15 Stolen land 15:14  |  Dav 04/09/06
  50.   land 15:18  |  mohammed 04/09/06
  51.   Poor Decision Making/Poor Timing 15:18  |  SJ 04/09/06
  52.   yes, you greedy immoral landgrabbers 15:25  |  manyook 04/09/06
  53.   Ali Baba and 40 Bandits 15:27  |  Adel 04/09/06
  54.   In the final settlement with the Palestinians 15:28  |  Clickfool 04/09/06
  55.   and you say you want peace...??? 15:28  |  Christos 04/09/06
  56.   To those who lost their way. 15:30  |  Vital 04/09/06
  57.   Up yours!!, to the Quartet. 15:30  |  Osborne Reed 04/09/06
  58.   Olmert the statesman 15:31  |  dierre 04/09/06
  59.   Bad news for Israel 15:33  |  Dorothy 04/09/06
  60.   If you occupy 1 donum from your neighbor ?? 15:37  |  Simon 04/09/06
  61.   Allow Olmert To Rise From The Dead First 15:38  |  Tony Anthony 04/09/06
  62.   Soon we will give them all homes in territories 15:40  |  Alfred 04/09/06
  63.   Olmert don`t divert our intentions from the North 15:47  |  Assaf 04/09/06
  64.   "PEACE NOW" = EXTREMIST LEFT WING 16:01  |  MIKE 04/09/06
  65.   Tenders issued for hundreds of homes in W. Bank settlements 16:01  |  Baruch 04/09/06
  66.   Israel 16:01  |  fred 04/09/06
  67.   JUST ANOTHER POLITICAL TRICK FOR OLMERT TO SURVIVE: LIBERATE GAZA 16:11  |  -VOICE of MOSHIACH)) 04/09/06
  68.   LAND GRAB 16:12  |  NeutralObserver 04/09/06
  69.   settlements 16:18  |  norman ravitch 04/09/06
  70.   Tenders issued for hundreds of homes in W. Bank settlements 16:36  |  adas 04/09/06
  71.   I don`t understand 16:37  |  gabe 04/09/06