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August 13, 2004/Av 26 5763, Vol. 55, No. 47
Sharon defuses crisis
LESLIE SUSSER
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
JERUSALEM - For a day or two in early August, Israel and the United States seemed to be heading for a showdown neither side wanted.
Quick action by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon managed to avert a looming crisis over Israeli building in the West Bank - but the tension could resume as Israel comes under pressure to meet its commitments to dismantle illegal settle-ment outposts and not to expand existing settlements.
Tension between Washington and Jeru-salem was triggered by reports of massive Israeli construction in and around the settle-ment of Ma'aleh Adu-mim, a bedroom com-munity some three miles east of Jerusalem.
The Americans also wanted to know why Israel hadn't removed dozens of "illegal" or "unauthorized" West Bank outposts, despite earlier promises.
In early August talks in Jerusalem, Sharon was able to convince a high-level American envoy, Elliot Abrams of the National Security Council, that he was acting in good faith and that he soon would take extensive action to dismantle the outposts.
In parallel, Sharon took a number of steps to show the Americans he meant busi-ness: He froze several Housing Ministry projects despite the fact that they already had received govern-ment approval, and he offered the Americans detailed explanations of what was happening on the ground and his government's difficulties in dealing with the settler problem.
Israeli officials also went to unprecedented lengths to coordinate data on the outposts with the Americans. For the first time, the two sides were able to produce an agreed-upon list of which outposts should be dismantled.
Sharon told the Americans that he had ordered a Justice Ministry attorney to prepare new legislation that would make it easier for Israel to dismantle the outposts before the U.S. presidential election in November. Sharon also ordered Dov Weisglass, his bureau chief, to give the Americans a progress report in the next few weeks.
To ensure there would be no confrontation now with the Americans, Sharon froze a number of projects approved by former Housing Minister Effie Eitam, the hawkish leader of the National Religious Party, who resigned over Sharon's plan to withdraw Israeli troops and settlers from the Gaza Strip and part of the West Bank.
In his capacity as acting housing minister, Sharon ordered the suspension of tenders for about 1,300 housing units in the settlements of Ariel, Kiryat Arba, Betar Elit, Geva Binyamin, Karnei Shomron and Ma'aleh Adumim, until the new minister, Tzippi Livni of Sharon's own Likud Party, examines whether the projects contravene understandings with the Americans on halting settlement expansion.
As for the building that is proceeding in Ma'aleh Adumim, Sharon explained that this was an old project, approved by former Prime Minster Ehud Barak's government in 1999 and now nearing completion. It was not something his government had ap-proved or could stop, Sharon said.
Some in the Israeli media confused the building in Ma'aleh Adumim with a far more significant plan to join the city to Jeru-salem through a con-tinuous conurbation scheme known as A-1, which dates to the administration of Prime Minister Yitz-hak Rabin in 1994.
The idea was to build a complex of residential and tourist areas all the way from Ma'aleh Adumim to Jerusalem, creating a huge metro-politan area and ensuring Israeli control of "Greater Jerusalem."
According to Israeli officials, the A-1 plan was designed to pre-empt an opposing Palestinian scheme to cut Ma'aleh Adumim off from Jerusalem by continuous north-south building.
So far neither side has done very much on the ground. In his talks with Abrams, Sharon noted that the plan hadn't yet been approved in its entirety and maintained that it was not on the agenda.
For now, the Americans seem prepared to give Sharon the benefit of the doubt on building in existing settle-ments, but they want to see action soon on removal of outposts.
As a first step to show it is acting in good faith, Israel has charged a senior Defense Ministry official, Baruch Spiegel, with comparing Israeli and American data on the outposts and reaching agreement on numbers and locations.
The bottom line is that Israel and the United States now agree on the figures: There are 82 outposts in all, including 23 built after March 2001, when Sharon came to power, and which he has promised to remove first.
Leslie Susser is the diplomatic correspondent for the Jerusalem Report.
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