Israel is pressing foreign donors to finance the construction of a web of roads through the occupied territories -- made necessary by the building of the vast "security" barrier and Jewish settlements in the West Bank.
The Israeli government seeks foreign funding to upgrade the back roads that Palestinians are forced to use -- after being banned from routes used by Jewish settlers. It also wants funding to build new roads which take account of the barrier and its settlements. The plan envisages roads that would run parallel to each other -- one for Jews, the other for Arabs.
European donors have recoiled from the proposal, in part because they are concerned that funding the new roads will breach July's International Court of Justice ruling against support for construction of the barrier. The court said it should be torn down because it breaches the Geneva conventions.
But diplomats say the US may be more willing to pay, given Washington's tacit endorsement of the barrier and support for Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's latest plan to expand West Bank settlements while withdrawing settlers from Gaza.
Officials say the request was made last month at meetings with the World Bank after foreign pressure to ease up on the movement of Palestinians.
Israel said it was interested in "improving the transportation infrastructure to enable uninterrupted movement across the West Bank" but that it would require "extensive and complex construction with international assistance."
Some donors are also worried about the creation of a separate road network for Arabs that one Israeli human rights group, B'Tselem, has described as a form of apartheid.
B'Tselem says Israel bars from, or restricts Palestinians on, more than 700km of roads in the West Bank.
"By unlawfully discriminating against Palestinians, the Forbidden Roads Regime is reminiscent of the apartheid system that existed in South Africa. The regime violates fundamental principles of international law that are binding on Israel," the report says.
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