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Construction proceeding last week in the disputed region of Har Homa, Jerusalem, as seen from the West Bank town of Bethlehem. (AP)
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Last update - 11:27 12/12/2007
Civil Administration chief: Hundreds of units approved in disputed areas
By Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondent
Tags: West Bank 

There are hundreds, even thousands, of planned housing units in the West Bank that have building permits and do not need any further government approval before their construction can begin, Brigadier General Yoav Mordechai, the head of the Civil Administration, told the interministerial committee on illegal outposts Tuesday.

Their construction "could cause similar embarrassment to that created by the publication of the tender for building in Har Homa," he added.

The discussion, which was meant to center on planning and construction in the West Bank, quickly turned into a discussion of the Har Homa crisis, in which the recent tender for the construction of more than 300 apartments in this East Jerusalem neighborhood generated sharp criticism from U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
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On Monday, the European Union also issued a presidential declaration condemning the construction plans. "The EU considers that this initiative might undermine ongoing efforts in the search for peace and confidence building between the parties, especially at this point in time. The EU urges Israel to honor the commitments under the Road Map and to avoid activities that could prejudge a final status agreement on Jerusalem or
undermine progress toward this goal," the statement said.

Attorney Talia Sasson, who compiled the report into illegal outposts, noted that a Justice Ministry proposal for a new planning and construction procedure, could lead to future cases in which it would be possible to build in the West Bank without government approval.

Vice Premier Haim Ramon, the committee's chair, asked the Civil Administration representative exactly how many housing units past governments had already approved and could theoretically begin construction. Mordechai told Ramon that there were "hundreds, or thousands, of such housing units." Ramon asked for the exact figures to be brought to the committee's next meeting.

"Har Homa is within the consensus [as to where Israel can build in the territories], and look how much noise that ended up making. Imagine what would happen if the same thing happened elsewhere, places in which there is no agreement," Ramon said.

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni agreed. "Another advert in the papers for a construction tender could ruin the negotiations with the Palestinians," she said.

Strategic Affairs Minister Avigdor Lieberman, however, said he supported the construction in Har Homa. "The only problem with Har Homa is that they're building only 300 units there instead 600," he said.

Next month's committee meeting, Ramon said, will review a new and final procedure for administering construction in the West Bank.

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      1.   More ballooning 03:10  |  jjvanka 12/12/07
      2.   Blatant lawlessness 03:10  |  Steve 12/12/07
      3.   They claim to Want Peace 03:12  |  Abe 12/12/07
      4.   "...embarrassment...?" What are you talking about?,,, 03:21  |  bat yam 12/12/07
      5.   Belligerent & Illegal Land Grabs 04:11  |  POP 12/12/07
      6.   More units 04:24  |  David 12/12/07
      7.   Re pop #5 greed 04:55  |  David 12/12/07
      8.   I vote Palestinians start launching rockets from WB 04:58  |  Joe 12/12/07
      9.   Israel`s Two Options 05:20  |  Paulo 12/12/07
      10.   #5 05:29  |  jjvanka 12/12/07
      11.   And rockets do not undermine the process? 05:52  |  Ronnbo 12/12/07
      12.   Pals do as they please so no problem Israel doing as it pleases 05:57  |  Sam 12/12/07
      13.   #11 Rambo 06:13  |  Joe 12/12/07
      14.   What a mess 06:15  |  Dan 12/12/07
      15.   Re.#8 "Joe" blow 06:33  |  David 12/12/07
      16.   Pathetic Reasoning 07:07  |  DoubleClick 12/12/07
      17.   # 11 and do israelis 07:08  |  Kris 12/12/07
      18.   What an eye saw! 07:12  |  Maureen Ann 12/12/07
      19.   easy to announce a freeze 07:18  |  rm 12/12/07
      20.   What is embarrassing about building new homes! 07:56  |  redmike 12/12/07
      21.   A coupla questions about the photo... 08:13  |  Johnboy 12/12/07
      22.   Gotta love zionist-speak! 08:20  |  Johnboy 12/12/07
      23.   #20 Watch me build one in your backyard, redmike 08:22  |  Johnboy 12/12/07
      24.   Coming soon: one state for all 08:44  |  Oliver 12/12/07
      25.   Criminals can not continue to break the law forever 08:56  |  hypocrisy Monitor 12/12/07
      26.   The Arabs would not do anything like that, had they won in 67 09:04  |  Leon Rosgarten 12/12/07
      27.   Zionism=Aparthied 09:14  |  Dow Buzzell 12/12/07
      28.   REPLY TO #18 09:35  |  MJ 12/12/07
      29.   Rockets in Sderot are bad. So is a 40 year occupation. 09:44  |  Oliver 12/12/07
      30.   Ramon Will Review and New and Final 10:07  |  Yaakov Sullivan 12/12/07
      31.   "disputed" is the wrong word 11:28  |  Raymond Deane 12/12/07
      32.   #24 - the idea of a two state solution died a while back ! 13:27  |  redmike 12/12/07
      33.   Jews build, Arabs bomb- what`s new? 13:37  |  17 12/12/07
      34.   #33 Mr17: "Jews build..." Building Apartheid walls, Illegall... 14:15  |  JJ 12/12/07
      35.   Israel Only Wants Peace 15:15  |  Nite Owl 12/12/07
      36.   MY GOD, ISRAEL 15:30  |  indrajaya 12/12/07
      37.   NOT ENOUGH BUILDING!! 15:33  |  Dr Eric 12/12/07
      38.   Build! Build! 15:37  |  We are the World! 12/12/07
      39.   We must Pray for the downfall of this Govwernment!! 15:37  |  Dr Eric 12/12/07
      40.   Why does the left want Kassams on Tel Aviv 15:39  |  Dr Eric 12/12/07
      41.   to my dear Leon, 15:39  |  Yadu 12/12/07
      42.   This shouldn`t come as a surpise to ANYONE 15:56  |  Clickfool 12/12/07
      43.   Minor problem for the Palestinians, major problem for Israel 16:07  |  Tosefta 12/12/07
      44.   Agrere ...and 16:17  |  Ray 12/12/07
      45.   Homes??? 16:18  |  Joe 12/12/07
      46.   THEY SHOULD BUILD MORE!!! 16:27  |  Stephen Connor 12/12/07
      47.   israel zionazis exposed 16:28  |  donnie 12/12/07
      48.   David from Brooklyn 16:31  |  Stephen Connor 12/12/07
      49.   DAVID, OPEN YOUR EYES AND YOUR MIND 16:37  |  Stephen Connor 12/12/07
      50.   Redmike - Do I hear the word DEMOGRAPHY? 16:46  |  Stephen Connor 12/12/07
      51.   Leon Rosgarten --- WHAT??!! 16:49  |  Stephen Connor 12/12/07
      52.   Oliver in Ramallah 16:54  |  Stephen Connor 12/12/07
      53.   Raymond Deane has never practiced law 17:01  |  Stephen Connor 12/12/07
      54.   Walls lead to dangerous tunnels and mad flying objects 17:19  |  Charlie 12/12/07
      55.   Israel doesn`t deserve peace. 17:35  |  Stephen Murray 12/12/07
      56.   #21 Johnboy 17:36  |  Charlie 12/12/07
      57.   Single state solution 17:38  |  Stephen Murray 12/12/07
      58.   Minor problem for the Palestinians, major problem for Israel 18:00  |  Tosefta 12/12/07
      59.   #41 Stephen Murray 18:00  |  tbora 12/12/07
      60.   #45murray as usual is talking out of the top of his head1 18:13  |  victor hardman 12/12/07
      61.   Rejectionists on Both Sides 18:30  |  Mark of Lewiston 12/12/07
      62.   #32 Yes Redmike, what is happening is 18:40  |  ballistic 12/12/07
      63.   8 & 13 Joe - Rejectionists At Work 18:45  |  Mark of Lewiston 12/12/07
      64.   No partner for peace 18:45  |  Janice 12/12/07
      65.   If You Don`t Want To Weaken `Israel Defensible Borders`" 19:21  |  Joseph E . 12/12/07
      66.   Well said,Clickfool 19:22  |  Jacob 12/12/07
      67.   to Stephen Connor of Ann Arbor 19:29  |  Judah N. Wenkel 12/12/07
      68.   each time it`s harder to fool the world 19:47  |  Haim Shmendrik 12/12/07
      69.   This is a good move 19:55  |  Brod 12/12/07
      70.   Our great grand children will piss on the graves of Peace Now act 20:09  |  Chaim 12/12/07
      71.   #37 Dr. Eric NOT ENOUGH BUILDING!!..OF COURSE WE NEED MORE, 20:14  |  JOSH 12/12/07
      72.   Har Homa - epitomy of ugliness in every respect 20:36  |  David 12/12/07
      73.   Israel once again proves that it never misses an opportunity 20:37  |  Jozef 12/12/07
      74.   Settlers...what an assholes they are 20:44  |  Tamir Palestine 12/12/07
      75.   More of the same 20:48  |  Michael N 12/12/07
      76.   #66 Jacob...I HAVE ONLY ONE THING TO SAY .. 20:48  |  JOSH 12/12/07
      77.   So why Annapolis then, Mr. Olmert? 20:53  |  Fortuna Benmayor 12/12/07
      78.   #70 REligious RADICALS such as 20:56  |  T A Sheppard 12/12/07
      79.   To Joe # 8 from "Free Tejas" and "Occupied Palestine" 20:58  |  Fortuna Benmayor 12/12/07
      80.   Steven Connor #50 21:28  |  Haim Shmendrik 12/12/07
      81.