Source: The Washington Times, 30-11-2007
ARIEL, West Bank - On the same day that "Israeli" Prime Minister Ehud Olmert committed "Israel" to a settlement freeze in Annapolis, heavy bulldozers were moving the red earth around concrete foundations for 32 luxury duplexes and garden apartments at the edge of this settlement as if nothing had changed.
"Are you looking for an apartment?" asked one site worker. "We started two months ago after getting government approval three months ago. But who knows? Maybe they`ll decide to freeze construction in Annapolis."
Mr. Olmert and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas renewed their commitment at the Annapolis meeting to the shelved "road map" peace plan, a series of confidence-building measures that includes a halt to "Israeli" settlement building and a Palestinian crackdown on violence against "Israel".
But with both leaders under fire at home, many think they will be hard-pressed to make good on commitments regarding "Israeli" military withdrawals and reforms to the Palestinian security forces.
The settlement issue illustrates how hard it will be for two weak politicians to make the concessions necessary to build confidence among their deeply distrustful people.
"The road map has been dismissed as a dead letter because of the inability of the parties to carry out their obligations. And here it is back again. I don`t think either side is strong enough to manage," said Yossi Alpher, editor of the "Israeli"-Palestinian Web journal Bitterlemons.org.
"Abbas can`t deliver Gaza. I don`t know if he can deliver Hebron (al-Khalil) or Jenin. Olmert can`t deliver 30 outposts and a settlement freeze. I don`t think this format for negotiations has a strong infrastructure. It`s doomed, as I see it."
Peace Now, an "Israeli" settlement watchdog, said active construction is taking place in 88 of "Israel`s" recognized settlements and about 10 outposts. Even if Mr. Olmert implements a freeze tomorrow, it might not stop work on potentially thousands of housing units at varying stages of planning.
"They might say we`re freezing all future units, but we`re going to complete the existing units. There are many points of approval where we can argue. If you ask me, no settlement activity means no bulldozer activity," said Hagit Ofran, the chief settlement monitor for Peace Now.
"If you`re going to a peace deal, how can you continue to build when you know you`re going to evacuate?"