JERUSALEM, 3 September 2005 — Israel will not expand its largest West Bank settlement until it has US approval for the project, Israel’s vice premier said in an interview published yesterday, an issue that touches on one of the thorniest issues regarding the future of Jerusalem.
Expanding the Maaleh Adumim settlement would cut off Jerusalem from the West Bank, making it virtually impossible for the Palestinians to establish a future capital in the eastern part of the city.
In the past, Israeli-Palestinian peace talks have broken down largely due to the impasse over the fate of Jerusalem. Bloodshed has also erupted over the city, home to shrines sacred to Judaism and Islam.
Palestinian officials yesterday welcomed the comments by Israeli Vice Premier Ehud Olmert, but said they have not been formally notified of a decision to suspend the expansion. The chief Palestinian negotiator, Saeb Erekat, urged Israel to call off the construction altogether.
The United States has repeatedly asked Israel not to expand West Bank settlements, in line with its commitment under the internationally backed road map peace plan, and specifically condemned the Maaleh Adumim expansion project.
As part of the project, Israel had planned to build some 3,650 apartment units in a new neighborhood that would connect the settlement of 30,000 residents to Jerusalem. Only a few months ago, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was quoted as saying Israel would move ahead with the project.
However, Olmert yesterday said the plan has been suspended.
“The state of Israel has committed itself to freeze the building,” Olmert told The Jerusalem Post daily.
Sharon has said that in any future peace deal with the Palestinians, Israel would keep the large West Bank settlement blocs, including Maaleh Adumim.
Olmert told the Post that Maaleh Adumim would eventually be expanded. “It is absolutely clear that at a certain point in the future, Israel will create continuity between Jerusalem and Maaleh Adumim, and so there is not even an argument that in the end we will have to build the project,” Olmert said.
However, he added that Israel would not act unilaterally. “When the conditions are ripe, we will raise the issue with the Americans again,” he said. “It is clear we will not do anything behind the back of the Americans.”
Access to Jerusalem has already been hindered by Israel’s construction of a wall that separates it from the West Bank.
