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Source: http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2005-04-12-sharon-dc_x.htm?POE=NEWISVA
Sharon Dismisses Bush Warning on Settlement Expansion
(AP/USA Today) Prime Minister Sharon brushed off a warning from President Bush not to allow further West Bank settlement growth, indicating Israel would continue to solidify its hold on areas it considers of strategic importance. Sharon said the dispute was decades-old and did not mar the meeting between the two leaders, which he called a great success. After the meeting, Sharon said that while U.S. opposition to the settlements dated back to when Israel first captured the West Bank and Gaza Strip in the 1967 Middle East war, Israel has nevertheless continued to build communities to keep a hold on the land. "It was not to antagonize the U.S., but to keep areas that seem strategic to Israel," Sharon said. At a lunch meeting following the news conference, Bush and Sharon turned to other subjects, including European diplomatic efforts to persuade Iran to abandon its nuclear ambitions, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said.