Rice: Har Homa homes harm talks - Haaretz

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Mon., December 10, 2007 Tevet 1, 5768

Israel Time: 02:03 (EST+7)

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Rice: Har Homa homes harm talks

By Barak Ravid and Jonathan Lis

U.S.Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Friday the plan to build 307 new housing units in Jerusalem's Har Homa neighborhood beyond the Green Line does not help the peace process.

"I've made clear that we're in a time when the goal is to build maximum confidence between the parties, and this doesn't help to build confidence." She spoke after meeting with Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni on the issue.

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Haaretz reported Thursday that senior American diplomats had told senior Israeli officials that the administration sought clarifications on the plan to build the units at Har Homa. The project was made public at the beginning of the week.

Rice said she had brought up the matter with Livni in a phone call and at Brussels. "It is even more important now that we are really on the eve of the beginning" of negotiations, she said.

Government officials said there is no tension between Israel and the U.S. over Har Homa.

Livni said in a speech at NATO headquarters that Israel is ready to do its part in the road map, but expects the Palestinians to fight terror. She said only the two parties in the conflict can make decisions about their future.

Livni added that Israel wanted to end the conflict with the understanding that it would have to make territorial concessions to create a Palestinian state. She said Israel had dismantled settlements in Gaza and would be prepared to dismantle more settlements in the West Bank.

Housing Minister Ze'ev Boim was critical of Rice's statements on Har Homa.

"Secretary Rice is to be praised for her part in getting the peace process restarted, but it is inconceivable that at every opportunity this will be tied to construction in Jerusalem," he said.

"The neighborhood of Har Homa is within the municipal boundaries of Jerusalem to which Israeli law applies. Accordingly, there is no obstacle to building there as there is no obstacle to building anywhere else in Israel."

Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupolianski, who is in a reelection campaign, said construction at Har Homa was not political, but would alleviate a housing shortage.

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