Just hours before US President George W. Bush's arrival Wednesday in
Israel, Shas Chairman Eli Yishai made a point of announcing that
building beyond the Green Line would continue.
During an interview on Israel Radio Yishai said that Construction and
Housing Minister Ze'ev Boim would announce several new building
projects, including continued building in the haredi town of Beitar
Ilit, located on the south western hills of Jerusalem with a
populatiuon of about 36,000.
"I am happy that... they will approve the construction," Yishai said
referring to building projects in Judea and Samaria that had been
frozen under US pressure.
Yishai's spokesman Roi Lachmanovich rejected the claim that Yishai had
intentionally made the statements about building in the settlements in
an attempt to foil Bush's attempts to prod Israelis and Palestinians
back to the negotiating table.
"Eli has been concerned about the building freeze in Beitar for a long
time long," Lachmanovich told The Jerusalem Post. "Just last night Eli
was assured that the freeze would be lifted and building would proceed
after Bush left the area."
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.
Yishai's announcement was viewed by Palestinians as an obstacle to
peace. They said 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.
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 US 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
US have cast doubt recently on whether that goal is realistic.
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.
Olmert recently told a Kadima faction meeting that he was committed to
building in Beitar Illit and other large settlement blocs in Judea and
Samaria.
The road map peace plan that forms the basis of negotiations renewed in
November with US 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.
14.05.2008
JarusalemPost
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