Tel Aviv - Israel has authorized the construction of 1,450
apartments in the West Bank settlement of Adam, Israel Army Radio
reported Monday, quoting a court document.
The report comes as Defence Minister Ehud Barak is scheduled to
meet with US President Barack Obama's special envoy to the Middle
East, George Mitchell, in Washington Monday in a bid to iron out the
Israeli-US dispute over ongoing Israeli construction on the occupied
West Bank.
The construction in Adam, a Jewish settlement north of Jerusalem
and south of the West Bank city of Ramallah, was authorized by
Barak's Defence Ministry, Army Radio said, as part of a plan to
relocate Jewish settlers there from an unauthorized outpost that is
to be evacuated.
Of the 1,450 homes, the Defence Ministry authorized the immediate
construction of 50 apartments to house the settler families from
Migron, the largest unauthorized settlers' outpost in the West Bank,
reported Army Radio, quoting a update submitted by the Israeli
government to the country's supreme court.
Barak's meeting with Mitchell comes after a parley between the
Obama envoy and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu scheduled
to take place in Paris last week was cancelled amid the row over
settlements.
While Obama is demanding a complete freeze of all Israeli building
on the occupied West Bank, the Netanyahu government has insisted on
ongoing construction within existing settlements to accommodate for
'natural growth.'
Barak on Sunday would not confirm reports that Israel had decided
to temporarily freeze all Israeli building in the West Bank for three
months, including for natural growth.
Israel is hoping to reach a compromise with the United States
regarding the demand for a total freeze.
While thus far refusing to accept the total freeze, it has
promised to uproot unauthorized outposts, set up by settlers without
formal government approval since Israel built its last, government-
sponsored settlement in the West Bank in 1996.
USA
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