[Jerusalem Post] Etgar Lefkovits - Israel will continue building in Jerusalem as well as in major settlement blocs in the West Bank, even as a construction freeze continues elsewhere in the territories, a senior Israeli official said Thursday. "It is very clear that we are committed not to build new settlements, and Israel has taken action to curtail settlement activity over the last years," the Israeli official said. "[But] it is well understood that there are some areas, [the] most populated areas [where] some activity will continue." "Building in Jerusalem and West Bank population centers are "not [of] the same status." Israel plans to keep several major West Bank settlement blocs as part of any final peace treaty with the Palestinians. The official added that Israel was determined to continue building in Jerusalem. "Nobody...could expect Israel to interpret this matter [of a building freeze] to be relevant to our capital," he said.
2008-01-11 01:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive