U.S. commends Israel for removal of IDF roadblocks

The United States has recently commended Israel for fulfilling its commitment to remove roadblocks in the territories to ease the Palestinians' freedom of movement. The Israel Defense Forces has removed about 100 roadblocks in the last month, and Palestinian officials told the Americans conducting a field investigation that they feel the improvement.

The removal of roadblocks was one of four commitments Israel made to the American government. The other three are evacuating illegal outposts, limiting settlement construction to built-up areas, and unfreezing hundreds of millions of shekels in Palestinian Authority tax money.

Outpost evacuation, which Prime Minister Ariel Sharon declared he would carry out in the June 2003 Aqaba summit, remains the most difficult problem. American ambassador to Israel Dan Kurtzer is close to reaching an agreement with Baruch Spiegel, the defense minister's adviser, on how many outposts must be evacuated. According to the defense establishment, 23 illegal outposts have been established in the West Bank since March 2001.

After an agreement is reached, the U.S. will expect Israel to evacuate the outposts, but will not intervene in the evacuation itself. The U.S. stands firm on its demand that the outposts be removed, American Middle East envoy Elliott Abrams clarified in his talks with officials in Israel over the weekend.

Washington vehemently rejected the idea put forth by Israeli officials' that it is better to leave the outposts aside for now and focus instead on the disengagement plan, which will include the evacuation of settlements in the Gaza Strip and the northern West Bank. The U.S. maintained that there was no link between the two issues, since Israel committed to evacuate outposts long before it came up with the disengagement initiative.

The U.S. sees the implementation of the pullout plan as a test of the credibility and capability of Sharon, who is trying to persuade the U.S. that he is being up-front about it. Earlier this week he told U.S. Senator Norm Coleman from Minnesota, the point man between the Republican party and the Jewish community, "I committed to evacuate the illegal outposts, and I intend to stand by my commitment."

Another issue Kurtzer and Spiegel are discussing is settlement construction, but those talks are still in the initial phase. They are due to determine the construction line in each settlement. Israel has proposed beginning with setting the construction line for the isolated settlements and postponing discussion of the large settlement areas.

Recent reports of the Defense Ministry's approval of 550 housing units in the West Bank settlement of Ma'aleh Adumim surprised the Americans, who were not familiar with the construction plan. They are investigating Israel's claim that the plan relates to an old project that was approved before last May, when Israel committed to limit settlement construction, and that the housing will be built in an existing construction zone.

Sharon's adviser Dov Weisglass will go to Washington next week for talks with U.S. National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice and members of her team.

	A Border Policeman standing guard as about 2,500 tourists from South Korea pass a roadblock at the entrance to Bethlehem on Monday. (AP)