“Israeli” Minister: “Israel” Planning New West Bank Train Network and Road

Local Editor

Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz (Likud) announced Tuesday that the ministry was promoting a plan to establish a train network in the West Bank which will converge with the new train tracks planned throughout the occupied territories.

Katz said that the plan had been drawn up with the cooperation of international organizations which have expressed great interest in the issue. He added that a train track is planned to run between Jenin, the Yizrael Valley and to Al Quds (Jerusalem).

Katz also mentioned the building of the new road, Highway 505, which is due to stretch from Tel Aviv to the Jordan Valley, and said that it was strategically important, yet it could not be built based on national reasons.

Katz added that the road "could be useful both in times of peace and in times of war - during wartimes it would be good for transferring tanks."

The minister also said that construction in the West Bank would continue immediately after the construction freeze comes to an end, as "the freeze is not a solution, Jews will live here for ever."