Tenders issued for hundreds of homes in W. Bank settlements

[bemildred]

Please do read the last paragraph of this piece.

In the largest wave of new settlement construction activity approved by the Olmert government since it came into office, the Housing Ministry issued tenders Monday morning for the construction of 690 new housing units in the territories.

The new apartments will be built in large settlements, included in the settlement bloc plan, which the government intends to annex to Israel as part of a final agreement.

Tenders for the construction of 788 housing units across the Green Line have been issued since the beginning of the year.

The tenders issued Monday include the construction of 342 housing units in the settlement Betar Ilit and the construction of 348 housing units in Ma'aleh Adumim. The municipal territory of Betar Ilit has been expanded in the last year in a manner that brings the orthodox settlement much closer to Jerusalem.

Haaretz

[madrchsod]

1. interesting article

seems little has changed in the politics in israel. the names may change but the results are just the same.

[Lurking Dem]

2. This appears to be

a working definition of Katherine Harris Crazy.

[Tom Joad]

3. I keep on hearing that Israel was planning to leave the West Bank.

and yet the reality is, no such plan exists, except in the minds of a few brave resisters to the Israeli governments agenda.

However, there is this idea that Israel can remove itself from a few far-flung outposts and tell the world it has ended the occupation of the West Bank.

[IndianaGreen]

4. And endless war will continue until such time as there no more Uncle Sam

as a co-dependent of Israel.

[bemildred]

5. PM didn't know in advance of tenders for West Bank houses

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert did not know in advance of the tenders for building hundreds of apartments in West Bank settlements issued by the Housing Ministry on Monday.

The Housing Ministry on Monday solicited tenders for construction of 690 apartments in Beitar Ilit and Ma'aleh Adumim - the biggest such project approved by the Olmert government to date.

Defense Minister Amir Peretz had been advised in advance of the expected tender, but Housing and Construction Minister Meir Sheetrit assumed there was no need for special approval from the Prime Minister's Office, since the construction is planned for large settlements within consensual settlement blocs.

Olmert had promised before the last election that he would act to expand communities within the large settlement blocs, including Ma'aleh Adumim and Beitar Ilit, as part of his "realignment" plan, intended to evacuate West Bank settlements situated beyond the separation barrier.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/758516.html