Israel to approve West Bank housing construction
Pastor Dale Morgan
Israel to approve West Bank housing construction*
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel's housing minister will approve next week the
construction of hundreds of homes in West Bank settlements, a political
ally of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Wednesday, adding new tensions
to peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.
The announcement by the Shas religious party, a hardline member of the
government, came hours before U.S. President George W. Bush was due to
arrive in Israel — in part to prod Israel and the Palestinians to
negotiate a peace deal. A spokesman for Housing Minister Zeev Boim
denied the announcement, but did not rule out construction in the Betar
Illit settlement at a later date.
The planned construction reported by Shas would be on land the
Palestinians want for a future state and could make it even harder for
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to convince his people that
diplomacy, not violence, would win them a state. A top Palestinian
negotiator accused Israel of acting in bad faith.
Shas leader Eli Yishai told Israel Radio that construction would be
allowed in the Betar Illit settlement near Jerusalem.
"I am happy that ... they will approve the construction," Yishai said.
He did not dispute the radio station's account that Olmert himself had
pledged to allow the construction of hundreds of apartments to proceed.
Shas spokesman Roi Lachmanovich told The Associated Press that Boim
would approve construction in Betar Illit and other areas on Sunday,
after Bush's three-day visit.
"I know the minister intends to announce the construction's approval in
the next few days," Lachmanovitch said. "We have been asking for this
for some time."
Bids will be published for "hundreds" of units, Lachmanovich said. Boim
committed to the construction recently in a conversation with Shas
leaders, he said.
Boim spokesman Eran Sidis said the minister "denies the report about the
approval of hundreds of housing units in Betar Illit." He declined to
comment further — leaving open the possibility that construction would
be announced some other time.
An Olmert spokesman said he did not know of plans to announce
construction. But he said building in Betar Illit would not contradict
Olmert's recent statements on the subject.
The "road map" peace plan that forms the basis of negotiations renewed
in November with U.S. backing obliges Israel to halt all settlement
construction. But Israel contends that prohibition does not apply to
settlement blocs it hopes to retain in any accord with the Palestinians.
"We have said there will be no new settlements, no expropriation of land
for the purpose of settlement construction and no policy to allow the
outward growth of settlements," Olmert spokesman Mark Regev said.
Earlier this year Olmert ordered the housing ministry to submit all
settlement construction plans for his approval.
Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said the equivocal statements coming
from Boim's office weren't helping peacemaking.
"Are they trying to deceive us, or somebody else?" he asked. "I really
believe they must make up their mind. It's Israeli settlements or peace.
They can't have both."
The U.S. administration has said settlement construction is not helpful
to the peace efforts.
Abbas briefly called off the negotiations earlier this year to protest
settlement expansion.
At the resumption of talks last year, Israel and the Palestinians set a
December 2008 target for reaching a peace deal. But both sides and the
U.S. have cast doubt recently on whether that goal is realistic.
Bush is due to arrive in Israel later Wednesday for a three-day visit
marking Israel's 60th anniversary but also designed to try to advance
peace efforts.
Shas has threatened to pull out of the government if the negotiations
touch on the sensitive issue of Jerusalem. While the talks are
reportedly dealing with the fate of the disputed holy city, no progress
on the subject has been reported by either side.