Israel okays 28 public buildings in West Bank settlements (Roundup)

Nov 27, 2009, 13:48 GMT

Jerusalem - Israel said Friday it was authorizing the construction of 28 new public buildings in West Bank settlements, one day after it announced a partial suspension of Israeli building in the occupied territory.

Defence Minister Ehud Barak signed the approvals late Thursday, his office said in a statement sent to the German Press Agency dpa Friday.

Barak at the same time began implementing the 10-month suspension announced by hardline Premier Benjamin Netanyahu late Wednesday, which applies to residential buildings only - excluding East Jerusalem as well as some 3,000 apartments whose construction has already begun.

He suspended all permits for building projects in the settlements where contractors had not yet broken ground.

His ministry has jurisdiction over the occupied territory, because the Israeli military has security and administrative control over those areas where most settlements are located, while the Palestinian Authority has autonomy in the largest Palestinian cities.

Angry leaders of the almost 300,000 Jewish settlers living in the West Bank meanwhile launched a campaign against the moratorium, complaining they felt betrayed by the right-wing government they had voted for.

Barak's office said the 28 public buildings approved for construction, include schools which are scheduled to open for the next academic year in September 2010.

'We all have an obligation to conduct an open and attentive dialogue with the settler leaders,' said Barak, of the coalition left-to-centre Labour Party, according to the statement.

He nonetheless warned: 'There must be no confusion: The state means what it says. To anyone who asks if the government intends to implement yesterday's decision, I say: That answer is positive. This is a real test for Israeli democracy.'

Netanyahu said he hoped the move would allow a revival of peace talks, but the Palestinians rejected it, demanding a full freeze throughout the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat called the move Israeli 'propaganda.'

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said in Santiago Thursday that Netanyahu's offer contained 'nothing new' and that the hardline Israeli premier had had an opportunity to choose between settlements and peace - and chose settlements.

The council representing all 121 settlements in the West Bank held an emergency meeting late Thursday, and issued a statement calling the moratorium 'illegitimate,' 'immoral,' and 'anti-Zionist.'

It vowed to continue building and ignore the government order.

Israeli authorities have said they plan to upscale inspections to counter the illegal building.

The council formed a task force which planned a series of steps, including vigils outside the homes of ministers of Netanyahu's ruling, hardline but mainstream Likud party, who had voted in favour of the move.

The task force would also step up petitions to Israel's Highest Court of Justice against illegal Palestinian construction as a counter measure. Settlers meanwhile would be encouraged to create thousands of new rooms by closing balconies.

Netanyahu's government was also embarrassed by the Likud minister in charge of culture and sport, Limor Livnat, who called the administration of US President Barack Obama 'horrible' for pressuring Israel on the issue of settlements, earning herself a banner headline in the biggest-selling Yediot Ahronot daily Friday.

Netanyahu's office quickly issued a statement strongly distancing itself from the remark.

Israel began a diplomatic campaign, with the Foreign Ministry instructing its diplomats to enlist international support for the moratorium. But the Palestinian Authority did the opposite, urging the international community to keep pressuring Israel to accept a full freeze.

The moratorium falls 'far short of the minimal requirements for a genuine peace process to resume,' said Erekat in a statement sent to reporters.