Sharon want West Bank settlement, US oppose it

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon pledged on Monday to push ahead with expansion of a large Jewish settlement near Jerusalem, despite U.S. concerns and Palestinian protests it would cut them off from the city.

“I don’t see construction in the E-1 area as a serious problem,” Sharon, referring to the West Bank settlement of Maale Adumim, was quoted as telling lawmakers at a closed-door session. “We must link Jerusalem to Maale Adumim.”

Israel considers all of Jerusalem its undivided capital, a claim that is not recognized internationally. Building up Maale Adumim is viewed by Israel as a way of safeguarding that claim.

Many Palestinians fear Sharon’s planned pullout from Gaza this summer is a ploy to trade the impoverished coastal strip where 8,500 settlers live for large swathes of the West Bank, where most of Israel’s 240,000 settlers reside.

Sharon’s comments on building 3,500 housing units in the five-kilometer (three-mile) corridor between the settlement of Ma’aleh Adumim and the eastern part of Jerusalem.

Palestinians object to any Israeli construction in the West Bank and warn that the Ma’aleh Adumim plan could kill chances for peace by preventing creation of a Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its capital.

“If carried out, this E-1 project will destroy the peace process and will undermine prospects for any future negotiations on the final status agreements,” Erekat said. “We call upon the U.S. to stop this project if they want to give the peace process a chance.”

Sharon is counting on President George W. Bush to keep his commitment that Israel can retain several large settlements near Jerusalem as part of a peace accord with the Palestinians, Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Monday.

In fact, “we do not need any assurances because it is crystal clear and it is simple,” Olmert said in a telephone interview. “When President Bush makes one commitment, it is enough.”

Meanwhile, White House press secretary Scott McClellan said construction of Israeli homes would be a topic at the Texas meeting.
“We oppose the expansion of any settlement activity,” he said. “”That has been our view and that remains our view.”

The idea behind the long-standing U.S. policy is to prevent the increase of the Jewish population on land that the Palestinians might gain in an accord.