Israel approves settler homes in blow to Middle East peace

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Ehud Barak, the defence minister, said he was authorising another 455 housing units inside existing Israeli settlements, on top of 2,500 new homes already under construction.

The announcement came in the face of direct criticism from America, which wants a total freeze on all settlement expansion as a prelude for talks between Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, and Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian leader.

But Mr Netanyahu’s coalition, dominated by Right-wing parties, has decided to begin building 2,955 extra homes before agreeing any freeze. The prime minister has also made clear that no restrictions will apply to settlements in East Jerusalem, which America and the international community regard as occupied territory, but which Israel’s government sees as an integral part of its “eternal and undivided capital”.

Saeb Erekat, the senior Palestinian negotiator, condemned the announcement, saying: “Israel’s decision nullifies any effect that a settlement freeze, when and if announced, will have. Given the choice between making peace and making settlements, they have chosen to make settlements.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/6153150/Israel-approves-settler-homes-in-blow-to-Middle-East-peace.html

[Mosby]

1. we have a hat trick!

Well played I must say, took most of the day but made it in under the wire.

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2. 2009 West Bank construction mirrors yearly trend

The decision to approve the construction of hundreds of housing units before the settlement freeze goes into affect means that in the coming year the total number of apartments to be built in the settlements will be the same as the number built before limitations were placed on construction over the Green Line.

Central Bureau of Statistics data show that the completion of 2,500 housing units and an immediate start to 455 new units continues the growth trend of recent years.

According to Central Bureau of Statistics publications, from 2005 to the end of 2008, when no special limitations on construction in the settlements were imposed and the American demand to freeze construction was not yet on the agenda, 7,015 housing units were built in the West Bank settlements. Thus during those four years, the average rate of housing starts in the settlements was 1,771 a year. The number of new housing units will not actually decline compared to previous years. The only difference is that now, that instead of construction permits being given gradually throughout the year, the government intends to issue hundreds of permits within a few days, before the official announcement of the "freeze" is made.

According to Central Bureau of Statistics data, the average household in the settlements consists of 4.46 people. Thus during the "freeze" - in which 2,500 units will be completed and hundreds of others built - the population will grow by about 14,000.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1113060.html