News and Document archive source
copyrighted material disclaimer at bottom of page

NewsMinewar-on-terrorisraelapartheidbarrier-wall — Viewing Item


Israel to build 600 homes 3 settlements { October 3 2003 }

Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
   http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/03/international/middleeast/03MIDE.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/03/international/middleeast/03MIDE.html

October 3, 2003
Israel to Build 600 Homes in 3 Settlements; U.S. Officials Are Critical
By GREG MYRE and STEVEN R. WEISMAN

JERUSALEM, Oct. 2 — Israel indicated on Thursday that it intended to build about 600 new homes in three large West Bank settlements, a move that Bush administration officials in Washington said would undercut the Middle East peace plan and could bring a reduction in American assistance to Israel.

The Housing Ministry placed an advertisement seeking bids to build the homes one day after Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's government took another step that American officials said the administration opposed: approval of the construction of barriers deep inside the West Bank to guard Jewish settlements.

Palestinians expressed anger at both decisions, with the Palestinian leader, Yasir Arafat, calling the barrier a "wall of racism."

"What does the wall mean?" he asked at his badly damaged headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah. "It means that this government is destroying and ending the peace process. How long will this silence in the face of Israeli crimes last?"

The American-backed peace plan, known as the road map, has stalled as violence has continued; neither side is meeting obligations listed in the first phase of the plan.

Under that first phase, Israel is supposed to halt all settlement activity. But Israeli officials take the position that Israel is not required to do so until the Palestinian leadership cracks down on violent Palestinian factions.

The latest Israeli moves have put President Bush in a difficult position, American officials said, adding that despite American displeasure, it is not clear that the administration will engage in a public confrontation over the action on settlements and the barrier.

While the administration has backed Israel in charging that the failure of the Palestinians to crack down on terrorism is the main cause of the breakdown in the peace plan, American officials also appear to be increasingly impatient with steps taken by Israel.

A measure of the current problem is that John S. Wolf, the special administration envoy assigned to monitor progress on the peace plan, has returned to the United States. That is a sign, administration officials say, that there is no progress to monitor.

One way the United States is pressing Israel is by threatening to reduce loan guarantees by whatever sum Israel spends on expanding the barrier or the West Bank settlements. Top American officials discussed the issue at the White House on Thursday but did not decide to take such a step, administration officials said.

"We're willing to use our leverage," said a senior administration official. "We will be examining what Israel is doing closely and take it into account."

Israel's decision to allow the new homes in settlements was made clear in a newspaper advertisement published in Haaretz inviting bids from construction firms for the building of the homes in various parts of the West Bank.

The plan calls for 530 additional houses in Betar Ilit, a fast-growing settlement south of Jerusalem, along with 50 new homes in Maale Adumim, to the east of Jerusalem, and 24 more in Ariel, a settlement to the north of Jerusalem.

In the government decision on Wednesday, Ariel was one of the settlements to be shielded by the new barrier.

"We not only have the right to keep building, it is the obligation of the Jewish state to help us build," said Adi Mintz, director general of the Settlers Council, which represents Israelis living in the West Bank and Gaza Strip settlements.

The Bush administration made no formal condemnation of Israel's actions. But in a news conference on Thursday, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell said that President Bush "continues to believe that the fence presents a problem."

"We also have concerns about continuing settlement activity," he said.

Mr. Sharon has been a leading proponent of settlement building for decades, and his government includes many ministers who are committed to expanding the nearly 150 settlements scattered throughout the West Bank and Gaza.

Palestinians want the settlements dismantled, saying they will make it extremely difficult, if not impossible, to establish a contiguous Palestinian state in peace negotiations.

The total number of settlers has reached 230,000, double the figure of a decade ago, when the initial Israeli-Palestinian peace talks began.

Palestinian militants have frequently attacked settlers during the past three years of fighting, and residents in the more isolated settlements say they remain vulnerable.

However, the larger settlements, which are heavily guarded by Israeli security forces, are comparatively safe and continue to attract new residents.

The settlement population has been growing at a rate of about 10,000 annually over the past three years, despite the fighting.

"Sharon's definition of a Palestinian state is a bunch of strips of land that have no contiguity," said Dror Etkes, a spokesman for Peace Now, an Israeli group that monitors settlements.

"Sharon always speaks about a long-term interim solution with the Palestinians," Mr. Etkes said. "But with his policies, there will be nothing left to negotiate in the long term."

Haaretz, a liberal daily, recently estimated that annual Israeli government spending on civilian needs in the settlements was more than $500 million, and that the security costs in the West Bank and Gaza were around $900 million a year.

The newspaper also estimated that the settlements had cost Israel roughly $10 billion in civilian spending since they began going up after Israel captured the West Bank and Gaza in the 1967 war.

The Israeli government does not publish figures on the costs of settlements.



Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company


Anti fence protest near jerusalem
Barrier called apartheid wall
Beating shooting at checkpoint filmed
EU backs west bank wall ruling
Eu says barrier obstacle two state solution
International court to rule on israel barrier { July 9 2004 }
Israel approves security barrier west bank { October 1 2003 }
Israel court rejects world court ruling against barrier
Israel preparing new route for west bank barrier { July 13 2004 }
Israel to build 600 homes 3 settlements { October 3 2003 }
Israel to sideline EU after UN fence vote
Israel will ignore world court barrier ruling
Israeli court freezes construction barrier { July 1 2004 }
Israeli high court says army must alter fence route
Israeli supreme court hears anti fence petition { February 9 2004 }
Military police investigate beating of palestinian
Pope condemns israeli wall { November 17 2003 }
State comptroller lashed out fence problems { November 12 2003 }
State department report to slam israel over wall { January 8 2004 }
Un assemly orders israel to halt west bank wall { October 21 2003 }
Un report criticizes israeli fence
Us veto un anti fence resolution
Wall to disrupt palestinian life says un report
Wall will demand one state solution { September 14 2003 }
World court condemns israel barrier

Files Listed: 25



Correction/submissions

CIA FOIA Archive

National Security
Archives
Support one-state solution for Israel and Palestine Tea Party bumper stickers JFK for Dummies, The Assassination made simple