J-10
07-06-2004, 08:16 PM
July 6, 2004 — WASHINGTON (*******) - In a rare U.S. criticism of Israel, Secretary of State Colin Powell on Tuesday voiced "some disappointment" at the pace at which Israel has dismantled settlement outposts in the West Bank.
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Powell made the comment at a news conference with Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom, who said there were 28 unauthorized outposts left and that Israel was working to keep its promise to dismantle them "in the near future."
The largely moribund U.S.-backed "road map" peace plan demanded Israel immediately dismantle settlement outposts built since March 2001. The outposts are resented by Palestinians, who regard them as seizing land rightfully theirs.
Such outposts, erected by Jewish settlers without explicit permission from the authorities, present a dual problem for Israel because they are often hard to defend militarily and are very difficult to tear down due to settler opposition.
"I explained to the minister that we have some disappointment in the rate at which outposts had been removed, and the minister gave me assurances that they are hard at work on that," Powell told reporters, describing his exchange with Shalom as "open and candid."
Shalom said Israel was committed to removing the outposts and accused the Palestinians of dragging their feet on the road map, which calls on Palestinian authorities to stop attacks against Israelis. The plan aims to create a Palestinian state by 2005, a goal even U.S. officials admit may be unrealistic.
"We removed tens of outposts already. There are 28 left. We gave all the list to the American administration, and we are working together in order to implement our commitments in the near future," Shalom added.
A spokesman for the Israeli embassy in Washington said 81 unauthorized settlement outposts have been taken down. Of the remaining 28, he said 12 are earmarked to be dismantled and the other 16 are before the courts, preventing government action.
Lewis Roth of the Americans for Peace Now group said there are 52 outposts -- authorized and unauthorized -- that should be removed under the road map and he said many outposts are retroactively legalized by the Israeli government.
"Even with the list of 28 outposts that has been sent to the Bush administration, while 12 of them will be dismantled among the other 16 some of them are in the process of being retroactively (authorized)," Roth said. "This is clearly a shell game that is being played by the Israeli government."
abcnews (http://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/*******20040706_421.html)
http://a.abcnews.com/images/autowirestory/*******/OLUSWORLD/2004-07-06T204650Z_01_GALAXY-DC-MDF620231_RTRIDSP_1_INTERNATIONAL-MIDEAST-USA-ISRAEL-DC.jpg
Powell made the comment at a news conference with Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom, who said there were 28 unauthorized outposts left and that Israel was working to keep its promise to dismantle them "in the near future."
The largely moribund U.S.-backed "road map" peace plan demanded Israel immediately dismantle settlement outposts built since March 2001. The outposts are resented by Palestinians, who regard them as seizing land rightfully theirs.
Such outposts, erected by Jewish settlers without explicit permission from the authorities, present a dual problem for Israel because they are often hard to defend militarily and are very difficult to tear down due to settler opposition.
"I explained to the minister that we have some disappointment in the rate at which outposts had been removed, and the minister gave me assurances that they are hard at work on that," Powell told reporters, describing his exchange with Shalom as "open and candid."
Shalom said Israel was committed to removing the outposts and accused the Palestinians of dragging their feet on the road map, which calls on Palestinian authorities to stop attacks against Israelis. The plan aims to create a Palestinian state by 2005, a goal even U.S. officials admit may be unrealistic.
"We removed tens of outposts already. There are 28 left. We gave all the list to the American administration, and we are working together in order to implement our commitments in the near future," Shalom added.
A spokesman for the Israeli embassy in Washington said 81 unauthorized settlement outposts have been taken down. Of the remaining 28, he said 12 are earmarked to be dismantled and the other 16 are before the courts, preventing government action.
Lewis Roth of the Americans for Peace Now group said there are 52 outposts -- authorized and unauthorized -- that should be removed under the road map and he said many outposts are retroactively legalized by the Israeli government.
"Even with the list of 28 outposts that has been sent to the Bush administration, while 12 of them will be dismantled among the other 16 some of them are in the process of being retroactively (authorized)," Roth said. "This is clearly a shell game that is being played by the Israeli government."
abcnews (http://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/*******20040706_421.html)