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Officials: Israel to allow construction in existing W. Bank settlements
By Reuters
Tags: Palestinians, settlement 

Israel will allow construction within built up areas of existing Jewish settlements in the West Bank, but will not expand beyond those areas, Israeli officials said on Monday.

The position could widen the rift in U.S.-backed peace talks launched by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during a regional peace summit held in Annapolis, Maryland last month.

The Palestinians say the negotiations, the first in seven years, hinged on Israel committing to halt all settlement activity, including "natural growth," as called for under the long-stalled road map peace plan.
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The Bush administration has likewise urged Israel to stop settlement expansion.

A senior Israeli official said "We don't need American approval if we are doing something that we think, as a sovereign state, we should do."

While Israel's decision would allow construction within existing built-up areas, the land that lies between existing buildings and the much larger outer jurisdictional boundaries of the settlements would be off limits, officials said.

The first round of the peace talks following Annapolis opened in discord last week after the Palestinians demanded a halt to Israeli plans to build some 300 new homes in the East Jerusalem neighborhood known to Israelis as Har Homa and to the Palestinians as Abu Ghneim.

The senior Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Har Homa development plan 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.

The official said the fate of Har Homa and other building projects depended on the outcome of the negotiations, which Olmert and Abbas said they hoped to complete before Bush leaves office in January 2009.

"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 official said.

Israeli officials have sought to play down the rift over settlements, saying Abbas and Olmert were expected to meet as early as next week and that their negotiating teams would reconvene on December 23 or 24 ahead of a visit early next month by U.S. President George W. Bush.

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 militants. Israeli officials have conditioned implementation of any peace deal on the Palestinians upholding their end in both the West Bank and the Hamas-controlled 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.

The official said Israel defined a settlement freeze as a commitment not to build any new settlements and not to confiscate any additional Palestinian lands for settlement use.

Included in its definition of a settlement freeze, the official said Israel will not provide economic incentives for more Israelis to move to existing settlements.

"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.

Related articles:
  • Peace Now: IDF carried out only 3% of settlement demolition orders
  • Jerusalem promises to freeze W. Bank settlement construction
  • Palestinians slam Israeli move to build new homes in E. Jerusalem
  • PA to U.S.: We'll accept nothing less than total settlement freeze
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      1.   Greedy & Belligerent Israel bent on Destroying Peace Process 23:45  |  POP 17/12/07
      2.   Its time for America to stop sending Israel money 23:45  |  Wendy 17/12/07
      3.   Israelis get your foreign passports NOW 23:50  |  spyguy 17/12/07
      4.   US withold all Christian money and support...C what happens! 00:06  |  Christian American 18/12/07
      5.   #3, get your passports now 00:16  |  Czech Man 18/12/07
      6.   Sorry, but we dont cower anymore 00:27  |  Robert 18/12/07
      7.   "The official said Israel defined a settlement freeze ..." 00:31  |  Axel 18/12/07
      8.   Jews have a right to build all over Judea and Samaria 00:40  |  Alexander Frank 18/12/07
      9.   Who?? 00:45  |  Uzi 18/12/07
      10.   Sovereign Nation? 00:49  |  Maki 18/12/07
      11.   Construction 00:52  |  Pontiac 18/12/07
      12.   #4 Christian American 00:57  |  Sabra 18/12/07
      13.   American Christian 01:05  |  Angela 18/12/07
      14.   To #1,#2,#3,#4 01:18  |  Yossi 18/12/07
      15.   JEWS HAVE A RIGHT TO BUILD if Arabs & Americans have a right 01:23  |  amir 18/12/07
      16.   #``s1,2,3,4..Wow, was there a anti-semite conference just let out 01:30  |  Steven Davis 18/12/07
      17.   To all Israel haters 01:42  |  Settler 18/12/07
      18.   J. Post says no expansion, so which is right? 01:56  |  flip 18/12/07
      19.   URL for the J. Post article 02:00  |  flip 18/12/07
      20.   no zion you just dont get it...you exist because USA says so 02:14  |  Assad-u-LLAH 18/12/07
      21.   Ten Years Ago and Still Stealing 02:17  |  Abe 18/12/07
      22.   POP-get a grip 02:32  |  CML 18/12/07
      23.   settler? you are not paying attention 02:45  |  Assad-u-LLAH 18/12/07
      24.   earth to zion? reality check 02:56  |  Assad-u-LLAH 18/12/07
      25.   Ul LA LA 02:58  |  Settler 18/12/07
      26.   Weasel words from an Israeli official 03:17  |  Johnboy 18/12/07
      27.   Time for International Sanctions Against Israel 03:29  |  Lev Bronstein 18/12/07
      28.   #15 Your logic is flawed, amir 03:33  |  Johnboy 18/12/07
      29.   No such thing - international law 03:46  |  Settler 18/12/07
      30.   Arabs Lost Land in A War they Started - It is Gone for Ever 03:51  |  J 18/12/07
      31.   There Can Be No `Israel Defensible Borders` 05:07  |  Joseph E . 18/12/07
      32.   Israel is a sovereign country 05:16  |  Brod 18/12/07
      33.   here is the thing setttler and J and CLM 05:29  |  Assad-u-LLAH 18/12/07
      34.   Christian American #4 05:31  |  Brod 18/12/07
      35.   All Jewish Settlements Are Legal by Int`l Law 05:33  |  Joseph E . 18/12/07
      36.   you are a liar joseph 06:12  |  Assad-u-LLAH 18/12/07
      37.   all jewish settlements are illegal according to international law 06:32  |  Assad-u-LLAH 18/12/07
      38.   Israel really seems 06:33  |  rm 18/12/07
      39.   UZI and friends 06:35  |  fadi 18/12/07
      40.   Equitable and practicable peace plan that may work for a change: 06:45  |  Uzi 18/12/07
      41.   There can never be separate Arab polity west of the Jordan! 06:46  |  Uzi 18/12/07
      42.   The Arabs must make very painful concessions for real peace! 06:47  |  Uzi 18/12/07
      43.   #28 Joseph E., where your argument fails 07:04  |  Johnboy 18/12/07
      44.   construction 07:22  |  rm 18/12/07
      45.   to jospeh E 07:38  |  Jeff 18/12/07
      46.   Travesty 07:44  |  Esther 18/12/07
      47.   Fadi 08:36  |  Chris Dougherty 18/12/07
      48.   Esther`s sense of "travesty" 08:46  |  R.L. 18/12/07
      49.   Squirming on the end of a hook 09:16  |  sh 18/12/07
      50.   All this is done under Olmert`s Premiership! 09:24  |  S 18/12/07
      51.   Is Jerusalem an occupied territory? 09:50  |  Avi 18/12/07
      52.   Mr. White Christian and Esther agree. Why? 10:05  |  Ilan 18/12/07
      53.   Its like the PA would say, let`s keep on killing..... 10:12  |  Swiss (Dino) 18/12/07
      54.   Who, in the whold world, believes a word Israel says 10:20  |  Chanalau, Tova 18/12/07
      55.   Numbers of Ullah #24` 10:35  |  Jack 18/12/07
      56.   Bad news for the peace process. 10:40  |  Ivar 18/12/07
      57.   Lies, Deceit and Trickery 10:51  |  Yaakov Sullivan 18/12/07
      58.   chris dougherty 10:56  |  fadi 18/12/07
      59.   If Any Nation Were Asked 10:56  |  Yaakov Sullivan 18/12/07
      60.   Wendy, #2, is correct: America is left holding the entire bag 10:57  |  Ivar 18/12/07
      61.   #10 It`s worse than that Maki. 10:59  |  Johnboy 18/12/07
      62.   Joseph from Givatayim on being sick and tired 11:08  |  Yaakov Sullivan 18/12/07
      63.   To Sullivan: Your posts show little insight. Pls. post less often 12:01  |  Pavel 18/12/07
      64.   Jews have the right to live anywhere. Build whenever you want.... 12:03  |  Pavel 18/12/07
      65.   Sullivan et all are right: America, as funder, is accountable 12:03  |  Ivar 18/12/07
      66.   ONLY SOLUTION: GAZA UNDER EGYPT; PARTS OF W.BANK LINKED TO JORDAN 12:14  |  G. Marcus 18/12/07
      67.   Raise up another Prophet 12:17  |  Wallymiah 18/12/07
      68.   Does anyone believe this offer.......?! 12:21  |  Verteran sceptic 18/12/07
      69.   Pavel on my posts 12:21  |  Yaakov Sullivan 18/12/07
      70.   Pavel and Vladimir Zhironovsky 12:26  |  Yaakov Sullivan 18/12/07
      71.   Israel Does Not Want Peace 12:28  |  MB 18/12/07