Israel Seeks Ban on Settlement Report Ahead of Bush Visit
JERUSALEM - The Israeli government is seeking a court ban on the publication of a key report on settlements, a peace group said on Monday, just days before US President George W. Bush begins his landmark visit.
In response to a court petition for the state report to be made public, the defence ministry argued it should be kept under wraps “for fear of harming state security and foreign relations,” the Peace Now group said.
“State security, as well as protection of foreign relations, are serving as a pretext for the state to try and hide things that are plainly visible,” Yariv Oppenheimer, chief of the anti-settlement group, told AFP.
The defence ministry had no immediate comment.
Peace Now and the Movement for Freedom of Information in Israel had filed a petition at a Tel Aviv administrative court asking that the 2006 Spiegel report — which reportedly revealed widespread building in dozens of settlements — be released publicly.
Israeli settlements on Arab land captured in the 1967 Six Day War — all considered illegal by the international community — are one of the most contentious issues of the decades-old Middle East conflict.
The issue has been a key source of discord between the two sides since they relaunched their peace talks in late November at a US conference after a break of nearly seven years.
Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas has repeatedly said the negotiations cannot succeed unless Israel halts settlement activity, and Washington has criticised Israel over plans to expand settlements that were announced shortly after the US conference.
Bush — who will stay in Israel and the Palestinian territories from Wednesday to Friday on the first visit by a sitting US president in nine years — last week called in an interview on Israel to dismantle outposts.
The issue of Israeli settlements, along with continuing military operations in Gaza and the West Bank, are due to be discussed during a meeting between Abbas and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Tuesday, officials said.
The report in question was compiled in 2006 by Baruch Spiegel, then advisor to the defence minister, and was hailed as the largest database ever compiled by the Israeli government on settlements built beyond the Green Line, Israel’s border before the 1967 war.
The Haaretz newspaper reported in October 2006 that the report revealed that widespread building had been carried out in dozens of settlements, often without permits.
Since then, the defence ministry has argued against publicising the report, with officials saying it could harm relations with main ally Washington.
Peace Now estimates that there are currently more than 100 wildcat outposts across the West Bank — settlements that are not authorised by the state.
More than 260,000 Israelis are estimated to live in government-authorised settlements across the Palestinian territory, with another 200,000 living in settlements in annexed east Jerusalem.
Meanwhile, Israeli and Palestinian negotiating teams were due to meet later in the day to discuss the logistics of their relaunched talks.
“I hope that we’ll be able to announce before Bush’s arrival an agreement on the structural aspect of negotiations, such as who will discuss what,” a senior Israeli official told AFP.
The two sides aim to set up a single committee to deal solely with core issues including settlements, refugees and Jerusalem — the most intractable problems of the conflict that have sunk previous peace deals.
Bush’s stay in Israel and the Palestinian territories comes at the start of a regional tour that will also take him to a string of Arab countries.
The trip aims at boosting Middle East peace efforts and to rally regional support to Washington’s position that Iran remains a threat, despite a recent US intelligence report that said Tehran had abandoned its clandestine atomic weapons programme in 2003.
Copyright © 2008 Agence France Presse
What a waste of police resources protecting this guy.
The situation is Israel is the stinking abscess that is infecting all aspects of our current situation in the middle east, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.
I predict Bush will act like the good guy and demand Israel stop and take down lots of settlements but since the World hates Bush and Olmert is almost hated as much he will refuse…. why should Israel deal now before a new administration…
This will help Bush’s self esteem but Israel doesn’t give a shit about that.
According to the Prophesy
Bush’s Global Dominance strategy could blowup just about anywhere now.
One good thing about Ron Paul’s Plan as President he would not do anything and let the people of the world work it out… Sounds funny but it sure would be better than what we got.
I pray someone will assassinate him while he is there or maybe he will just fall down a flight of stairs or choke on a pretzel. That would put some peace in the middle east! Accidents happen, just like what happened to Cheney shooting partner. We all know it was an accident the terrorists got to hit the world trade towers. We are america, the strong, the brave, the (just like bush might be soon)brainwashed.
Do you think he will look at Rachel Corrie’s murder location?
Why should the Israeli Govt have to ban the report? Bush doesn’t read, anyway.
*L* GW does to read, My Pet Goat upside down, now that takes talent
Look, let ‘em ban the report. What difference does it make? With 3bn in American dollars every year, Israel will continue to build illegal settlements. Nobody’s gonna stop them, regardless of what reports get written or repressed. With any luck, Israel will go down with the sinking ship it has tied its fate to.
Why shouldn’t Israel stall? If Hillary “Isupport Israel 100%” Clinton makes it to the White House, that will be Israel’s dream come true and the sky will be the limit.
“In response to a court petition for the state report to be made public, the defence ministry argued it should be kept under wraps “for fear of harming state security and foreign relations,” the Peace Now group said.”
“Kept under wraps for ‘fear’ of harming ’state security’.”
Yeah, right,….. for fear of harming state security!
Cloning states should be outlawed!
Bush the small will see nothing except what that the Israelis wish him to see. Besides, he already knows who the terr’rists are and who the “white hats” are w/o traveling to the Tel Aviv presidential suite.
As he has a special interest in “interrogation techniques” and prisons, Olmert will probably entertain him with a special viewing (like they arranged for Judith Miller, the NYT ’s official neocon mascot of the time) or maybe they’ve made films for his amusement.
But he’ll meet no real people, in fact except for Abbas & his cronies he’ll problably meet no Palestinians, only zionists count, as they’re the “GOOd guys”.
Boycott Israel
www.inminds.co.uk/boycott-israel.php
The republican presidential hopefuls are trying to tell the American public that al-queda attacks us because they want to spread there distorted view of the Koran, when it is actually because we through the palestinians out of there homeland,put in the jewish people and have treated most of the arab world like dogs instead of respecting them as people.I wish Ron Paul could have gotten that message out!!
Why would they seek to ban a report on their criminal, blatantly contemptuous activity?? D’oh..
Because they want to pretend it is not happening???
May I suggest there is a bigger elephant in the room here?
Why is so called holocaust research the ONLY historical research that (in the current world) can get you a jail term??
Go figure..
Spartacus..
Taking into account all “aid”, loans, credits, deferred payments, oil guarantees, research transfer, etc etc, the figure is actually closer to $140 billion + (1997), or $15000/Zionist..
This does not include, of course, the cost to the US of fighting proxy wars for Israel..eg, Iraq at $500 billion and counting.
Nor does it cover the unimaginable future costs i.e.. Loss of wealth and assets, involution of empire, world pariah status, ..
Go figure indeed..
Que bono…
Quick! Pretend we’re being good! Maybe Santa won’t notice!
Over the past 10 years, the Likud party leadership of Israel has forged an alliance with right-wing Christian fruitcakes in the US to solidify Israel’s hold on the occupied territories.
The Christian fruitcakes (see Council for National Policy) have donated millions to enable Jewish immigrants to squat on Palestinian land and they have lobbied our Christian fruitcake president to halt the peace process. The Christian’s goal: To facilitate the second coming (or if you are a mormon the third coming) of Jesus.
STOP THIS INSANITY NOW!
Settlements in the West Bank have been key to the Israeli government’s strategy ever since the 1967 War … to continually provoke the Palestinians to violence and radicalism and create “facts on the ground” that make it impossible for the Palestinians to accept Israeli land-for-peace proposals.
Nothing any American president has to say will change this strategy, and the Palestinians will never get a state, unless it’s given to them by King Abdullah of Jordan. End of story.