A senior Israeli Cabinet minister acknowledged yesterday that there are serious differences between Israel and the US over Jewish settlement expansion.
Housing Minister Tsipi Livni spoke a day after US President George W. Bush affirmed his support for the "road map" peace plan, which calls for a freeze on settlement construction. The issue was raised after Israeli officials last month confirmed plans to build 3,650 homes in the largest West Bank settlement, Maaleh Adumim.
Livni told Israel Army Radio that there is agreement between Israel and the US on continued construction within the built-up areas of the settlements.
"It seems that the debate is more over whether Israel can expand the perimeters of these communities, and certainly from an American viewpoint, as well, Israel can build within them," she said. "Not that this makes it easy for us; let there be no misunderstanding. There apparently will be disputes with the Americans over this."
The planned Maaleh Adumim expansion is especially contentious because it would link the settlement to east Jerusalem, separating Arab neighborhoods of the city from the rest of the West Bank. The Palestinians hope to make east Jerusalem the capital of their future state.
A year ago, after Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon unveiled a plan to withdraw from the Gaza Strip, Bush issued a letter to Israel stating his support for Israel's retention of major Israeli population centers in the West Bank under a final peace deal with the Palestinians.
But the US has steadily opposed expansion of settlements.
"Our position is very clear that the `road map' is important and the `road map' calls for no expansion of the settlements," Bush said ahead of Sharon's visit at his Texas ranch next week.
Last month, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Israel's plan to expand Maaleh Adumim was "at odds with American policy" and could threaten peace with the Palestinians.
An Israeli defense official recently acknowledged that the expansion plan was liable to be bogged down for years by legal challenges. He also said, without elaborating, that six months ago, the US halted joint work with Israel on demarcation of existing settlements' lines.
Livni said she doesn't expect sparks at the Bush-Sharon meeting over Maaleh Adumim because the US president understands the significance of the Gaza pullout.
‘CROSSING THE LINE’: China’s embassy in Seoul criticized US Forces Korea Commander General Xavier Brunson, asking if his ‘hostile’ remarks were authorized by Washington South Korea and the US are in talks over recent public remarks by the commander of US Forces Korea, Seoul’s presidential office said yesterday, after the comments drew sharp criticism from China. In a recent podcast interview, US Forces Korea Commander General Xavier Brunson described South Korea as “the dagger in the heart of Asia” from China’s east coast, prompting the Chinese embassy in Seoul to say that he had “truly crossed the line.” The interview came amid growing speculation that Washington might seek to expand the role of US Forces Korea in countering the growing regional influence of China, a key
SEEKING ORDER: Rodrigo Paz said that ‘anyone who wants to destroy the nation will have to deal with this president and the full force of the constitution’ Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz on Wednesday said that the nation was at a “breaking point” after nearly a month of protests that have caused shortages of food, fuel and medicine. Paz, who took office six months ago amid the worst economic crisis there in four decades, is battling a groundswell of fury over his policies. The political capital, La Paz, has been besieged by low-income workers and members of the indigenous majority calling for his resignation. “The country needs order and is reaching breaking point,” the 58-year-old said at a public event in La Paz, renewing his appeal for dialogue. On Tuesday, the Bolivian
Through the noise of rushing papers and whirring belts at a print factory in Kyoto, two creators watch their photo essay come to life in broadsheet form — part of an effort to win new audiences in the age of artificial intelligence (AI). Despite the decline of the publishing industry, self-publication and handmade “zine” magazines are growing in popularity in Japan, reflecting the nation’s enduring love of paper in the digital era. While speaking to Agence France-Presse at the plant, his hands black with ink, one of the creators, Kazuma Obara, said: “I think [paper] is a medium that engages all five
Australian researchers have trained lab-grown brain cells on a silicon computer chip to play the 1990s shooter game Doom and said they are just scratching the surface of what the neurons could be capable of doing. It is the science-fiction work of biotech boffins at Cortical Labs, who researched and developed the technology that harnesses the workings of the brain’s networking system. Each so-called “biological computer” contains about 200,000 living human brain cells, grown from stem cells that were harvested from blood donations. Having mastered the simple computer game Pong, where a paddle is moved up and down to send a ball
RSS