JERUSALEM: Israel has approved construction of 28 new public buildings in the occupied West Bank, the defence ministry said on Friday, highlighting the limits to settlement restrictions announced this week.
“These public buildings and schools must be completed in time for the start of the new school year in September,” the ministry said. Defence Minister Ehud Barak’s approval for the new construction came just two days after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced restrictions on building in West Bank settlements in a gesture to US President Barack Obama.
Washington had been pressing throughout the year for a complete freeze on new construction as demanded by Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas ahead of any resumption of peace talks. But Netanyahu agreed only limited restrictions for 10 months, in a move rejected by the Palestinians. The Israeli decision excludes annexed Jerusalem, which the Palestinians want to make the capital of their promised state but which Israel insists is an integral part of their “eternal, indivisible capital”.
It also does not affect the construction of public buildings or the completion of hundreds of housing units already under way. Russia has said the Israeli move did not go far enough and called for a complete halt to settlement construction in the whole West Bank, including east Jerusalem. But Britain, France and the United States all welcomed the Israeli announcement, saying it would help revive peace t… >>>
