Israeli Settlement Expansion

The Israeli government has now announced plans to build more than 6,000 new homes in the West Bank. This is in defiance to the Bush administrations official policy, however I am certain this new announcement will elicit only mild chastizing from them, if any at all. It does, however, jeopardize the fragile peace that has been negociated by the newly elected Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas.

The Israeli withdrawl from the Gaza Strip is part of a plan to essentialy annex the entire West Bank. By building the wall and preparing for withdrawl from Gaza, they have adopted a familiar Bush administration public relations strategy of making a minor, essentially worthless concession and touting it as evidence of their fair-mindedness. To them, the goal of peace has always been secondary to expansion. This is why they refused to abide by the Egyptian plan for peace in 1979, which required Israel to withdraw its troops to its pre-1967 borders.

Peace is impossible as long as Israel continues its occupation of the West Bank. They are well aware of this, but they are unwilling to give up its economic resources.