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Israel: First Phase of Roadmap Does Not Apply to Building New Homes in Jerusalem

[Reuters/AFP/AP] Israeli Construction and Housing Minister Zeev Boim on Saturday rebuffed criticism by U.S. Secretary of State Rice of Israel's plan to build new homes in the Jerusalem area. Rice on Friday criticized the planned construction, saying it "doesn't help to build confidence." Boim reiterated Israel's position that it can build anywhere in Jerusalem, the Arab east sector of which Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war. "Secretary of State Rice should be congratulated for her efforts in relaunching the peace process," Boim said in a statement. "But this cannot constantly be linked to the cessation of construction in Jerusalem." Boim said the Har Homa project "is within Jerusalem's municipal borders, where Israeli law applies. There is thus nothing to prevent the construction there, just as there is nothing to prevent construction anywhere else in Israel." Israel insists that the Har Homa plans predate the new round of negotiations and do not constitute settlement activity. "The decision to build Har Homa was taken more than 10 years ago and the present construction is part of a plan that was approved in 2000," Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev told AFP. "The government and its chief (Prime Minister Olmert) do not intervene in this kind of issue because the buildings are inside Israeli territory under Israeli sovereignty," he added. Har Homa, where thousands of Israelis now live, is just inside the expanded city limits of Jerusalem, drawn after Israel captured eastern Jerusalem in the 1967 war. Israel annexed eastern Jerusalem days after the war, but no country recognized that. Since 1967, Israel has built a string of Jewish neighborhoods in eastern Jerusalem, with about 180,000 residents. Har Homa, at the southern edge of the city line, is the newest. "Israel makes a clear distinction between the West Bank and Jerusalem," said Mark Regev, spokesman for Prime Minister Olmert. "Israel has never made a commitment to limit our sovereignty in Jerusalem. Implementation of the first phase of the road map does not apply to Jerusalem."
2007-12-10 01:00:00
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