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U.S. Deliberately Ambiguous on Settlements
(Jerusalem Post) Janine Zacharia - The U.S. states publicly that it remains opposed to settlement activity, but will permit new construction within major settlement blocs which are expected to be absorbed into Israel as part of a final peace deal. Bush endorsed Israel's retention of settlement blocs in his April exchange of letters with Sharon, which led to a reevaluation of U.S. rhetoric on settlement expansion. The road map peace plan of 2002 called for an end to Israeli settlement activity, but Israel says it never accepted a freeze on natural growth and that such a freeze would be impractical. Israeli officials say the Bush administration has privately endorsed the so-called Peres-Powell formula, which says: There will be no new settlements built; no confiscation of new land for residential activities; construction only in already built-up areas; and that the issue of settlements should be resolved as part of a final peace agreement. "Everybody knows the U.S. does not object to natural growth," said Ed Abington, a former U.S. consul general in Jerusalem and a political consultant for the Palestinian Authority.