Rice warns Israel on settlement expansion
Palestine-Israel-USA, Politics, 6/16/2008

An Israeli plan to expand settlement activity in disputed areas of East Jerusalem could slow progress toward a two-state solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice warned during her latest peace mission to the region.

"At a time when we need to build confidence between the parties, the continued building and the settlement activity has the potential to harm the negotiations going forward," Rice said in a Sunday appearance with Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni in Jerusalem.

Israel's announcement that it will build 1,300 new homes for Jewish settlers in territory Palestinians claim for their future capital underlines the need for continued progress to define the borders of a future Palestinian state, Rice said, which is one of several goals of an intensive US-supported peace effort launched at the November 2007 Annapolis Conference.

"It's important to have an atmosphere of confidence and trust," Rice said following talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah later in the day. "The United States believes that the (settlement) actions and the announcements that are taking place are indeed having a negative effect on the atmosphere for negotiation."

The new construction should not be allowed to shape future Israeli-Palestinian borders, which remain under negotiation, Rice said. "The United States will not let these activities have any affect on final status negotiations, including final borders," Rice said.

Settlement expansion also conflicts with the road map -- a series of peace-building measures proposed by President Bush in 2002 and subsequently developed by the diplomatic Quartet of the European Union, the United Nations, Russia and the United States. Since the Annapolis conference, US Air Force Lieutenant General William Fraser has been tasked to work with Palestinians and Israelis to oversee their implementation of the road map.

Israeli-built apartment blocks under construction on disputed land in East Jerusalem. "Israel will benefit from the establishment of a peaceful and democratic Palestinian state. And so it is in Israel's interest to do everything that it can to promote an atmosphere of confidence," Rice said.

Fraser's efforts are producing results on the ground, Rice said, as are efforts to lift Israeli roadblocks and checkpoints to allow easier movement of workers and goods between Jenin and Nablus.

Improving security and economic conditions will help encourage further international support projects to help strengthen the Palestinian government, Rice said, allowing it to deliver basic services and new opportunities to its citizens.

Rice's visit comes as Egypt, Israel and the Palestinian Authority are working to negotiate a truce with Hamas, which seized the Gaza Strip in a 2007 political struggle with Abbas, and since then has allowed terrorists to use the territory to stage attacks into Israel. A peaceful, democratic Palestinian state envisioned as part of a two-state solution also would offer a positive democratic alternative to the vision offered to Palestinians by Hamas, which receives funding and support from Iran and Syria.

"Hamas is effectively holding the population of Gaza hostage," Rice said. "The rocket fire needs to stop. There needs to be a more sustainable circumstance for the people of Gaza, meaning that there will need to be sustained openings of the crossings, enough at least to permit humanitarian needs to be met."

Despite the latest challenges to the peace process, Rice expressed confidence that Israeli and Palestinian negotiators will continue moving forward and a settlement by the end of 2008 pledged by Israeli and Palestinian leaders in Annapolis remains possible.

"This isn't a football game where you put up a score after every quarter," Rice said. "This is a process that will ebb and flow. There will be good days, there will be bad days, they'll move forward, they'll move back. That's the way negotiations go."

Previous Stories:
  Bush reiterates support for Palestinian state   (5/21/2008)
  Rice in Middle East: new agreement may improve Palestinian livelihoods   (3/31/2008)
  Rice urges resumption of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks   (3/5/2008)

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