Civil Admin. okays plans for thousands of West Bank homes

[IndianaGreen]

More evidence that Israel is not interested in peace, but only in land.

Last update - 03:47 27/02/2009

Civil Admin. okays plans for thousands of West Bank homes

By Akiva Eldar

Despite the state's formal commitment not to expand West Bank settlements, a government agency has been promoting plans over the past two years to construct thousands of housing units east of the Green Line, Haaretz has learned.

The plans, which have not yet been approved by the government, were drawn up by the Civil Administration, the government agency responsible for nonmilitary matters in the West Bank. Details of the plans appear in the minutes of the agency's environmental subcommittee, which were obtained by the B'Tselem organization under the Freedom of Information Act.

The plans propose the initial construction of 550 apartments in Gva'ot, located near Alon Shvut in the Gush Etzion settlement bloc, followed by construction of another 4,450 units at a later stage. At present, Gva'ot is inhabited by 12 families. The neighboring settlement of Bat Ayin, which has about 120 families, is slated to receive another 2,000 apartments, according to the plans.

Rimonim will get another 254 apartments if the plans are approved, and expansion plans are also in the works for Einav and Mevo Dotan. All three of these settlements are east of the separation fence.

Ma'aleh Adumim has included planned construction in the E-1 corridor in its sewage treatment plans. That corridor, which links Ma'aleh Adumim to Jerusalem, is eventually slated to hold some 3,500 apartments.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1067319.html

[Shaktimaan]

1. Give me a break.

More evidence that Israel is not interested in peace, but only in land.

It doesn't really suggest anything of the kind. You are looking at an unapproved plan drawn up by non-elected civil servants and extrapolating that it is the result of an overarching government policy decision. To look at this report and see evidence of any specific Israeli policy, (let alone deducing a particular ideological motivation behind it), only makes sense if you consider your own assumptions to be "evidence."