Rice: No difference between W. Bank and e. J'lem settlements
HILARY LEILA KRIEGER and TOVAH LAZAROFF , THE JERUSALEM POST Jan. 8, 2008

In comments that threaten Israel's hold on east Jerusalem, US Secretary of
State Condoleezza Rice told The Jerusalem Post on Monday that the US does
not consider it legitimate for Israel to build homes in some neighborhoods
of the capital which are located beyond the Green Line.

In a conversation held in the ornate antechamber of her office, she went
further than US officials have previously gone toward clarifying her
government's position on the matter.

Her remarks set the stage for a confrontation over the issue when Rice and
US President George W. Bush visit Israel this week and try to move the peace
process forward.

Israel, which annexed east Jerusalem after the 1967 war, does not equate the
capital's Jewish neighborhoods over the Green Line with the settlements
located in the West Bank. As such, it does not believe that construction
there is bound by its obligation under the road map peace plan, which calls
for a freeze of all settlement activity.

But Rice on Monday clarified that the US believes that portions of east
Jerusalem are considered to be "settlements" and that Israel must stop
building there as part of its commitment to implement the first phase of the
road map.

Rice said "the United States doesn't make a distinction" between settlement
activity in east Jerusalem and the West Bank and that the road map
obligations are on "settlement activity generally." She was speaking during
an interview conducted by the Post and Ynet ahead of her departure for the
region.
Rice referred specifically to Jerusalem's Har Homa enclave as one such
proscribed neighborhood.

"Har Homa is a settlement the United States has opposed from the very
beginning," she said in response to a question from the Post.

She didn't, however, clarify whether other Jerusalem neighborhoods over the
Green Line, such as Gilo and Ramot, were also settlements in the eyes of the
United States when asked. "The important point here is that we need to have
an agreement so that we can stop having this discussion about what belongs
to Israel and what doesn't," she said in response.

Her answer points to the longtime ambiguity in the US position towards
construction in these neighborhoods, which is opposed by the Palestinians
and many European countries. Traditionally the United States refrains from
describing Jerusalem neighborhoods as "settlements," but the Bush
administration has been particularly critical of recently announced building
tenders in Har Homa.

Palestinian objections to the project, which was announced last month, have
complicated nascent negotiations between Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and
Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas over the contours of a
Palestinian state, which Bush would like to see by the time he leaves office
in one year.

Bush told Reuters last week that he considered settlements an "impediment"
to peace.

Referring specifically to Har Homa, Rice in early December said, "We're in a
time when the goal is to build maximum confidence between the parties and
this doesn't help to build confidence."

Olmert has re-committed to Israel's road map obligations in the wake of the
Annapolis peace conference formally launching negotiations between Israelis
and Palestinians, telling the Post in interview last week, "I have announced
that the State of Israel will not build new settlements and will not
confiscate land for this purpose, and I intend to keep the obligation."

However, he has also indicated that construction will be proceeding on Har
Homa.

In an interview with the Post last week, Olmert spoke of Jewish
neighborhoods in east Jerusalem, including the West Bank suburb of Ma'aleh
Adumim, as integral parts of the city.

"Ma'aleh Adumim is an indivisible part of Jerusalem and the State of Israel.
I don't think when people are talking about settlements they are talking
about Ma'aleh Adumim."

That position now clearly puts him at odds with the United States'
understanding of Israel's road map obligations. The US has said that it will
be monitoring both sides' adherence to the road map as a part of the new
negotiations, though the mechanism to do so has yet to be put in place.
Herb Keinon contributed to this report.