MIDDLE EAST/USA: ISRAELI WEST BANK BUILDING PLANS CRITICIZED BY US
(26 Sep 1997) Hebrew/Eng/Nat U-S Secretary of State Madeleine Albright on Thursday urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stop building Jewish homes in the West Bank saying it could stand in the way of peace in the Middle East. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced that 300 more homes would be built in the West Bank settlement of Efrat. Despite the U-S criticism, Israel has defended its decision saying the construction was legal and would go ahead. The announcement of these latest building plans has prompted a warning from Palestinian leaders that these latest building plans could trigger more suicide bombings. The Israeli decision to build comes just two weeks after the U-S Secretary of State visited the Middle East in a bid to bring the Israelis and Palestinians back to the negotiating table. During her trip she managed to get Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to a "freeze" on the building of further settlements in The West Bank. Netanyahu's subsequent decision to allow the construction of around 300 new Jewish homes in Efrat, south of Bethlehem has annoyed Madeleine Albright. SOUNDBITE: (English) ''Well, I have to say we have made it quite clear that this particular building is not at all helpful as we are proceeding in terms of trying to get the peace process going again. It's very important, I believe, to create the proper environment so that the negotiations can proceed successfully and we can get our idea or marrying the interim agreement to accelerated final status talks going again, and for those talks. SUPER CAPTION: Madeleine Albright, US Secretary of State In New York to attend the U-N General Assembly, Israeli Foreign Minister David Levy said enlarging existing West Bank settlements was legal. While Levy praised Albright's peacemaking efforts, he challenged her criticism of Netanyahu's actions. SOUNDBITE: (Hebrew translated to English) ''The question is whether Israel is acting in accordance with what has been agreed between the sides. And the answer to that question is that we have.'' SUPER CAPTION: David Levy, Israeli Foreign Minister The 1993 and 1995 Oslo accords between Israel and the Palestinian Authority bar new settlements on the West Bank but do not deal with existing ones which might expand. Israeli government officials described the expansion as a natural occurrence as families grow and need more room. SOUNDBITE: (English) "Israel government policy is to enable natural growth of existing communities and we believe that if you have a continuity of growth, in other words building next to existing buildings, then this can only be a natural phenomena, it is only natural to have another kindergarten, another high school, another street in the natural growth of existing Jewish communities." SUPER CAPTION: Moshe Fogel, Israeli Government Spokesman But in the West Bank, there was a warning from the Palestinian leadership that these latest Israeli construction plans will lead to further suicide bombings by Islamic militants such as the guerrilla group Hamas. SOUNDBITE: (English) "Well, I think this is another dangerously irresponsible decision bordering on a policy of insanity that is going to turn the whole region into another cycle of conflict and violence. Netanyahu seems to be wilfully intent on destroying the peace process and creating an atmosphere of friction, of conflict, of volatility and of violating every single tenet and principle that should govern the peace process." SUPER CAPTION: Hanan Ashrawi, Palestinian Minister of Higher Education Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: / ap_archive Facebook: / aparchives Instagram: / apnews You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...
