Peace Now Secretary-General Yariv Oppenheimer said the move was an expression of Netanyahu's plan to thwart any efforts
to establish a Palestinian state.
May 18, 2009
Ma'ariv: "As If There Were No Better Time: Settlements to Expand in Jordan Valley"
Ma'ariv (p. 6) by Roi Sharon -- US President Barack Obama may be expected to demand from Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu that all construction in the settlements be stopped, but this is not preventing a group of contractors from arriving today at the settlement of Maskiot in the Jordan Valley in order to plan a new neighborhood.
It should be noted that behind closed doors Netanyahu has said that he agrees to the formation of a Palestinian entity with "self rule" in populated areas, but that he plans on having Israel continue to control the settlements in the Jordan Valley (among these Maskiot), the larger settlement blocs and those on the mountain ridge.
The settlement of Maskiot started as a Nahal outpost a few decades ago and had almost been abandoned. However, following the disengagement plan, as well as promise from then-prime minister Ariel Sharon, settlers from Gush Katif's Shirat Hayam decided to populate the area.
Already a year ago, the settlement received the status of permanent community from the Interior Ministry, and a tender was issued for infrastructure and development projects. Thirty families who today reside in the neighboring Hemdat settlement are expected to relocate to the new settlement. Twenty of them were originally from Shirat Hayam and the other ten from other parts of Gush Katif.
Today only eight families, evacuees from Shirat Hayam, reside in the settlement in trailers and are now awaiting the construction of permanent buildings. In July 2008 it was first reported in Ma'ariv that the planning council of the Civil Administration announced that it was authorizing the construction project for the community. In accordance with the approval granted by the Defense Ministry, 20 building are to be constructed in the settlement and are to be occupied by former Shirat Hayam settlers.
The meaning of the approval given at the time, is an urban construction plan and the recognition of the site as a community. Without such a plan, no infrastructure such as electricity or water can be placed. The last settlement to be granted such a plan in the Jordan Valley was Naama in 1982.
Last week the Jordan Valley Regional Council issued a specific tender for contractors to build infrastructure and developmental projects for the new neighborhood, and yesterday held a tour for would-be contractors.
Council Chairman David Lahiani told Ma'ariv: "The settlement of the Jordan Valley is a national interest. There is a political consensus, and today more than ever, one can say that the Jordan Valley serves as Israel's defensive belt. I'm certain that the entire political establishment welcomes and will welcome any family that is absorbed in the Jordan Valley. The community has received all necessary permits from the Defense Ministry. The residents of the Jordan Valley are law-abiding citizens who act only in accordance the policy of the Israeli government."
Peace Now said in response: "Issuing the tender and holding the tour for contractors on the same day that Netanyahu arrives in the United States sends a clear message to the United States and the entire world on the intentions of the Israeli government to expand construction in the settlements."
Jerusalem Post: "New Jordan Valley settlement to be built
May. 18, 2009
JPost.com Staff , THE JERUSALEM POST
A new settlement will be built in the Jordan Valley for the first time in 26 years, Army Radio reported Monday morning.
The new construction is set to take place in Maskiot, where 10 families evacuated from the former Gaza settlement of Shirat Hayam now live in trailers.
A tender was issued recently to build 20 new residential units, and according to the report, construction was due to commence immediately.
An adviser to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said the move at Maskiot proved Israel was tightening its hold on the West Bank.
"With the decision coming while Netanyahu is visiting Washington, only one message comes out of this visit: Israel will continue its old policy and will not abide by the international will and give the Palestinians their national rights," Sabri Saidam said.
Located behind a hill and off of a rural road, Maskiot housed only a small Orthodox pre-military academy until the arrival of the Shirat Hayam families, the first of whom came early in 2007 and settled in two empty structures belonging to the school. Although the site has been designated as a settlement since the mid-1980s, it has only been used for educational purposes and no permanent community had ever been established there.
Settlers have said Maskiot is technically not a new settlement because of its history as a military outpost. But Hagit Ofran of the Israeli group Peace Now, which opposed settlement construction, said moving in civilians changes the site's status. "This is a new settlement in all respects," she said.
The Shirat Hayam project was given initial approval by then-defense minister Shaul Mofaz and prime minister Ariel Sharon in the fall of 2005. In December 2006, then-defense minister Amir Peretz tried to give the project its final set of authorizations, but changed his mind after the international community, including the United States, condemned the move.
The families moved into the area after becoming impatient with the length of time it was taking to obtain building permits.
Head of the local council David Elhayani told Army Radio that everything was done legally.
"There is a consensus within the Zionist parties that the Jordan Valley must remain under Israeli control in any agreement that may be reached," he said. "The Jordan Valley must be strengthened for the sake of security.."
Peace Now Secretary-General Yariv Oppenheimer said the move was an expression of Netanyahu's plan to thwart any efforts to establish a Palestinian state.
"It is clear that Netanyahu does not intend to commit to the two-state solution," he said. "His policy is to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state for years to come. The way to do this is to build settlements and make all of us - Jews and Arabs - live in one state."
Tovah Lazaroff contributed to this report
YNET: "MK: Expansion of settlement 'slap in Obama's face'"
Contractors tour Maskiot as Netanyahu lands in Washington; council chairman says timing 'coincidental', but Peace Now head claims planned expansion 'clear message to US'
Efrat Weiss
As Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plane landed in Washington Sunday, contractors were being given a tour of the northern Jordan Valley settlement Maskiot in the framework of a tender that was issued to build a new neighborhood there..
"The tender is part of the process to populate the community," Jordan Valley Regional Council Chairman David Elhayani told Ynet.
"This process takes a few months to complete. The timing is coincidental, and anyone who says otherwise is jeopardizing Israel's security-related interests. There is a consensus among the Zionist parties that the Jordan Valley must remain under Israel's control in any future (peace) agreement."
Peace Now Secretary-General Yariv Oppenheimer said the fact that the contractors' tour coincided with Netanyahu's trip to Washington was "an indication of the government's plan to expand isolated settlements.
"This sends a clear message to the US and the international community as a whole regarding the government's plan to expand settlement construction," he said.
Elhayani said in response "it's shocking to think that the leftists of Peace Now are doing everything, and I mean everything, to undermine Israel's security interests."
Established in 1982, Maskiot formerly housed a Nahal Brigade base and several years ago included a pre-conscription military academy for national-religious youth. In December 2006, then-Defense Minister Amir Peretz approved the decision to build 30 new homes in the religious community, where the evacuees from the settlement of Shirat Hayam in Gush Katif could be housed. Peretz later revoked his decision amid US pressure.
In July 2008 Defense Minister Ehud Barak authorized the settlement's repopulation with 50 families, some of them from the evacuated Jewish settlements in Gaza. Currently about 10 families reside in Maskiot, but many others are waiting for their lots to be released.
"The decision to populate Maskiot was approve by Barak; the residents of the Jordan Valley are law abiding citizens," Elhayani said. "I'm certain that the citizens of Israel would be pleased to learn that we are carrying on with the strengthening of the Jordan Valley, which is the country's security belt."
Yesha Council Chairman Danny Dayan told Ynet regarding the construction plans at Maskiot "Peace Now is sabotaging Netanyahu's mission to seek support against the Iranian nuclear program in Washington."
Knesset Member Ahmad Tibi (United Arab List-Ta'al) criticized the decision to hold a construction bid for a new neighborhood in the northern Jordan Valley settlement.
"The Israeli government is acting like a bull in a China shop by expanding settlements all across the West Bank," he said, adding that Monday's meeting between US President Barack Obama and Netanyahu "will be tested by the US' ability to compel Israel to halt all settlement construction."
Knesset Member Yohanan Plesner (Kadima) called the decision "foolish", saying it "would turn Israel into a bi-national state and deteriorate Israel's relations with the US."
MK Shlomo Molla, also of Kadima, said "the PM is slapping Obama in the face by expanding the settlement under the false pretense of natural growth.
"The PM and his associates would be better off evacuating settlements, launching negotiations and concentrating on the demographic problem," he said.
Xinhua (Chinese) Radio: Israel to build new settlement in West Bank
5/18/09
JERUSALEM, May 18 (Xinhua) -- A new Jewish settlement will be built in northern West Bank for the first time in 26 years, Israeli Army Radio reported Monday.
A tender of 20 residential units was issued recently for the new settlement named Maskiot, which is to be established on the ruins of another settlement abandoned years ago, according to the report.
The report said the construction plan, which was to transform a former army outpost into a permanent settlement for Jewish evacuees from the Gaza Strip, was initiated in late 2006 by former Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz, but was frozen due to the U.S. pressure.
The United States and other western countries have been calling on Israel to halt its settlement expansion. U.S. President Barack Obama, who will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington Monday, said several times that Israel should stop all settlement activities in line with the obligations that it undertook as part of the 2003 international "roadmap" peace plan.
However, David Ahayeini, head of the Jordan Valley Regional Council that oversees Maskiot, has insisted that the construction is being carried out completely legally.
"There is full consensus among Zionist parties that the Jordan Valley must remain under Israeli control within the framework of any diplomatic deal," Ahayeini was quoted as saying. "The Jordan Valley is needed for the sake of state security, and woe to the administration that strays from this path."
The local anti-settlement watchdog Peace Now movement said the move is the proof that "Netanyahu is not ready to commit to a two-state solution" and is striving to prevent the creation of a Palestinian state.
There are more than 280,000 Israeli settlers currently living in the occupied West Bank and some 200,000 living in settlements in annexed east Jerusalem, according to the Peace Now statistics.
DPA: "Israel to build first new West Bank settlement in 13 years"
May 18, 2009
Tel Aviv/Ramallah - In a move certain to raise international ire, Israel is beginning the construction of the first completely new Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank in more than a decade, the Peace Now watchdog group said Monday.
The moves come as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was due to attend his first meeting with US President Barack Obama later Monday, despite US and European calls for Israel to halt its settlement activity.
US Vice President Joe Biden earlier this month called on Israel to end settlement expansion.
'You're not going to like my saying this, but (Israel should) not build more settlements (and) dismantle existing outposts,' Biden told a pro-Israeli lobbying group in Washington.
Obama is expected to issue the same demand during his meeting with Netanyahu later Monday.
Palestinians, who demand a complete end to Israeli settlement activity as a prerequisite for a peace treaty, described the Israeli move as 'a blunt provocative act.'
Contractors toured the site of the new Maskiyot settlement on Sunday morning, after the regional settler council issued a tender for the construction of 20 new homes on it, Peace Now said.
Maskiyot, located in the Jordan Valley at some 20 kilometres east of Nablus, would be the first new settlement to be built in the West Bank in 13 years. It would also be the first new settlement in the Jordan Valley in 26 years.
Expansion work also began Monday on the Jewish settlement of Nokdim, the home of ultra-nationalist Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, Israel Army Radio reported. No further details were immediately available.
Nabil Abu Rudeineh, the spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said the 'Israeli provocation' demanded response form the United States 'and a genuine and concrete pressure on Netanyahu that would guarantee a halt to all settlement activities.'
The Maskiyot project was first mooted some three years ago, and was intended to house Jewish settler families evacuated from Gaza following Israel's 2005 unilateral pullout from the strip.
But the project was frozen in January 2007 by then defence minister Amir Peretz following massive international pressure.
Current Defence Minister Ehud Barak, of the left-to-centre coalition Labour Party, unfroze the project when he was still a member of the outgoing Israeli government of Ehud Olmert, Peace Now said.
The project's implementation is now starting under the new government of Netanyahu, which took office following February 10 elections in which the right-wing bloc of parties won a majority of seats in Israel's parliament.
Israel has insisted Maskiyot is not a new settlement, because it has existed since 1982 in the form of a military outposts established with the express purpose of building a civilian settlement on the site later on. The military outpost still exists and contains a pre- military academy, but this is located at the foot of the hilltop, at some 200 metres from the construction site.
Almost 280,0000 Jewish settlers live in some 121 Jewish settlements across the West Bank among 2.4 million Palestinians.
Barak's office did not immediately reply to the written query it demanded.
The last formal new Jewish settlement was built in the Jordan Valley in the early 1980s. The last official new settlement to have been built in the West Bank is Modi'in Ilit, near Jerusalem, established in 1996, according to Peace Now.
Since then, the Israeli government has expanded existing settlements, but built no new ones. Jewish settlers have also since then erected some 100 outposts without formal government authorization.
The 2003 'road map' peace plan calls on Israel to uproot these unauthorized outposts and to freeze all construction in existing settlements.
May 19, 2009
McClatchy Washington Bureau: "No progress visible from Obama-Netanyahu talks"
by Margaret Talev and Dion Nissenbaum
WASHINGTON - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu emerged Monday from hours of meetings with President Barack Obama agreeing to restart the Palestinian peace process "immediately," but with conditions that indicated that no breakthroughs are imminent.
Obama, meanwhile, defended his diplomatic approach to Israel's enemy Iran, saying that the Iranian-supported terrorist groups Hamas and Hezbollah had grown stronger under the Bush administration's no-diplomacy stance toward Iran.
"We're not going to have talks forever," Obama said, and he predicted that "we should have a fairly good sense by the end of the year" as to whether a diplomatic approach to Iran is going anywhere.
In a joint appearance with Obama at the White House, Netanyahu said that any progress with the Palestinians would hinge on the Palestinians recognizing Israel as a Jewish state.
Netanyahu also declined to use the phrase "two-state solution," which Obama said should be the goal. Instead, Netanyahu said that Israelis "don't want to govern Palestinians. We want to live in peace with them. We want them to govern themselves, absent a handful of powers that could endanger the state of Israel."
Obama said that Israeli "settlements have to be stopped in order for us to move forward." Netanyahu, however, made no public commitment toward that, and as they met, Israeli settlers were moving forward with plans to build Israel's first new settlement in the Jordan Valley in more than a quarter-century.
The two leaders spoke kindly to one another. Netanyahu called Obama "a great leader of the world" and a friend. Obama praised the prime minister's "youth and wisdom" and announced, "I'm confident that he's going to seize this moment."
However, their body language appeared strained at times during their public appearance, and Obama made clear that he expects Israel to make some concessions.
"We have seen progress stalled on this front, and I suggested to the prime minister that he has an historic opportunity to get a serious movement on this issue during his tenure," he said.
The leaders didn't issue any joint agreement following the meeting, which comes a week ahead of separate meetings Obama has scheduled with President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
In a conference call with media after the joint appearance, organized by the pro-diplomacy Israel Peace Forum, Samuel Lewis, a former U.S. ambassador to Israel, said of Obama and Netanyahu, "I don't know that they moved the ball."
Oded Eran, a former Israeli ambassador to the European Union and peace negotiator who also participated on the call, said, "I don't think there was a change in Netanyahu's position ... there's nothing new."
David Elhanni, the head of the Jordan Valley Regional Council, said Monday that builders toured the site as they prepared to bid on a plan to build the first 20 homes.
The Maskiot settlement is one of the most contentious in the West Bank. Israel has agreed under the U.S.-backed Road Map peace plan not to build new settlements in the West Bank, but it doesn't accept the plan's requirements that it halt all building in existing settlements.
Settlers and Israeli leaders contend that Maskiot isn't a new settlement because it's been used as a military prep school for years.
Debra DeLee, the president of Americans for Peace Now, described the settlement news as "a slap in the face to President Obama."
"Israel can't have it both ways," said DeLee. "Netanyahu can't come to Washington to talk peace while building a new settlement in the West Bank."
Ilan Ghilon, a left-leaning Israeli lawmaker with the nation's Meretz Party, said, "The government is on its way to a collision with the Obama administration."
Ahmad Tibi, an Arab member of Israel's parliament, the Knesset, said Netanyahu's government was "acting like an elephant in a china store."
The chief Palestinian negotiator, Saeb Erakat, issued a statement saying that Palestinians welcomed Obama's involvement and support for a two-state solution, but that "only a reversal in Israel's policies on the ground can restore credibility to the peace process."
"This includes an immediate and complete freeze on all settlement activity, including all natural growth, lifting all restrictions on Palestinian movement, and an immediate end to Israel's siege on Gaza," he said.
"By failing to endorse the two-state solution, Benjamin Netanyahu missed yet another opportunity to show himself to be a genuine partner for peace," he said.
BBC: "Obama presses Netanyahu over two-state plan"
US President Barack Obama has urged visiting Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu to accept a Palestinian state.
After their first talks since both took office, Mr Obama restated his support for a two-state plan and said the US would be "engaged in the process".
He also said Israel had an obligation under the 2003 "roadmap" to stop Jewish settlement in the West Bank.
Mr Netanyahu said he was ready to start peace talks "immediately" but refrained from endorsing a Palestinian state.
After their meeting in Washington, Mr Obama said he had suggested the Israeli prime minister had a "historic opportunity to get a serious movement" on Palestinian statehood.
"I firmly believe it is not in Iran's interest to develop nuclear weapons"
Barack Obama US president
Mr Netanyahu said Israel was ready to live "side by side" with Palestinians and he could resume talks immediately, but any agreement depended on Palestinian acceptance of Israel's right to exist "as a Jewish state", he added.
Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat reacted with derision to Mr Netanyahu's remarks.
"How can I govern myself by myself as a Palestinian with his occupation going on on my neck on the hour every hour? With his roadblocks segregating our towns and villages and refugee camps?" he said.
A Hamas official, Musher al-Masri, said the Americans still were not treating Israel and the Palestinians even-handedly.
In Israel itself, right-wingers said they were worried the Americans were moving away from their commitment to Israel's security, while opposition Kadima politicians said Mr Netanyahu had missed the chance to forge real trust with President Obama.
Nuclear Iran
The BBC's Kim Ghattas in Washington says Mr Obama was clearly putting the onus on Mr Netanyahu to accept a Palestinian state.
The BBC's Kim Ghattas, in Washington
The two leaders emphasised very different issues during the comments they made to the cameras.
Mr Obama reiterated his commitment to a two-state solution between the Israelis and the Palestinians but Mr Netanyahu refrained, as he has done since he's taken office, from uttering the words "Palestinian state".
The Israeli prime minister emphasised repeatedly that his top priority was to deal with the threat Iran poses because of its nuclear programme and insisted that progress on the peace track went hand in hand with tackling Iran.
So while there was no public spat, the gap remains and may put a real dent in Mr Obama's plans for grand peacemaking in the Middle East.
The differences between the two men are still there, she says, adding that the meeting has given Mr Obama an opportunity to assess how big the gap is, and how he can move forward ahead of meetings with Egyptian and Palestinian leaders next week.
Our correspondent says Mr Netanyahu came to Washington with his own list of priorities, topped by Iran's nuclear programme.
"There's never been a time when Arabs and Israelis see a common threat the way we see it today," the Israeli prime minister said.
Mr Obama said "it is not in Iran's interest" to develop nuclear arms, and that the US would keep options open.
He stressed that "we should have some sense by the end of the year" on whether talks with Iran were bearing fruit.
Amid reports from Israel that the authorities were moving ahead with plans to expand a Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank, Mr Obama said Israel had an obligation to stop Jewish settlement activity.
Tenders have been issued to build 20 housing units in Maskiot, a former Israeli military base that has been designated for housing settlers removed from Gaza in 2005.
Israeli campaign group Peace Now says this is a clear message to Washington that the Israeli government intends to expand settlements, which are considered illegal under international law.
UPI: "Israel moves to expand settlement"
May 18, 2009
JERUSALEM, May 18 (UPI) -- Israel is moving to expand a West Bank Jewish settlement even as Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama, critics say.
The Israeli group Peace Now said the government Monday was conducting a contractors' tour of the Maskiot settlement in the Jordan River Valley with the aim of adding more Jewish families there, even though the Obama administration opposes the building of more settlements in occupied Palestinian territories, Ynetnews.com reported.
Peace Now Secretary-General Yariv Oppenheimer told the Web site the fact that the contractors' tour coincided with Netanyahu's trip to Washington was "an indication of the government's plan to expand isolated settlements. This sends a clear message to the U.S. and the international community as a whole regarding the government's plan to expand settlement construction."
Kadima Knesset member Shlomo Molla told Ynetnews, "The PM is slapping Obama in the face by expanding the settlement under the false pretense of natural growth."
But Jordan Valley Regional Council Chairman David Elhayani said the move to repopulate the area was made by last year by Defense Minister Ehud Barak, with some of the new families coming from evacuated Jewish settlements in Gaza.
Ma'ariv: "As If There Were No Better Time: Settlements to Expand in Jordan Valley"
Ma'ariv (p. 6) by Roi Sharon -- US President Barack Obama may be expected to demand from Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu that all construction in the settlements be stopped, but this is not preventing a group of contractors from arriving today at the settlement of Maskiot in the Jordan Valley in order to plan a new neighborhood.
It should be noted that behind closed doors Netanyahu has said that he agrees to the formation of a Palestinian entity with "self rule" in populated areas, but that he plans on having Israel continue to control the settlements in the Jordan Valley (among these Maskiot), the larger settlement blocs and those on the mountain ridge.
The settlement of Maskiot started as a Nahal outpost a few decades ago and had almost been abandoned. However, following the disengagement plan, as well as promise from then-prime minister Ariel Sharon, settlers from Gush Katif's Shirat Hayam decided to populate the area.
Already a year ago, the settlement received the status of permanent community from the Interior Ministry, and a tender was issued for infrastructure and development projects. Thirty families who today reside in the neighboring Hemdat settlement are expected to relocate to the new settlement. Twenty of them were originally from Shirat Hayam and the other ten from other parts of Gush Katif.
Today only eight families, evacuees from Shirat Hayam, reside in the settlement in trailers and are now awaiting the construction of permanent buildings. In July 2008 it was first reported in Ma'ariv that the planning council of the Civil Administration announced that it was authorizing the construction project for the community. In accordance with the approval granted by the Defense Ministry, 20 building are to be constructed in the settlement and are to be occupied by former Shirat Hayam settlers.
The meaning of the approval given at the time, is an urban construction plan and the recognition of the site as a community. Without such a plan, no infrastructure such as electricity or water can be placed. The last settlement to be granted such a plan in the Jordan Valley was Naama in 1982.
Last week the Jordan Valley Regional Council issued a specific tender for contractors to build infrastructure and developmental projects for the new neighborhood, and yesterday held a tour for would-be contractors.
Council Chairman David Lahiani told Ma'ariv: "The settlement of the Jordan Valley is a national interest. There is a political consensus, and today more than ever, one can say that the Jordan Valley serves as Israel's defensive belt. I'm certain that the entire political establishment welcomes and will welcome any family that is absorbed in the Jordan Valley. The community has received all necessary permits from the Defense Ministry. The residents of the Jordan Valley are law-abiding citizens who act only in accordance the policy of the Israeli government."
Peace Now said in response: "Issuing the tender and holding the tour for contractors on the same day that Netanyahu arrives in the United States sends a clear message to the United States and the entire world on the intentions of the Israeli government to expand construction in the settlements."
Jerusalem Post: "New Jordan Valley settlement to be built
May. 18, 2009
JPost.com Staff , THE JERUSALEM POST
A new settlement will be built in the Jordan Valley for the first time in 26 years, Army Radio reported Monday morning.
The new construction is set to take place in Maskiot, where 10 families evacuated from the former Gaza settlement of Shirat Hayam now live in trailers.
A tender was issued recently to build 20 new residential units, and according to the report, construction was due to commence immediately.
An adviser to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said the move at Maskiot proved Israel was tightening its hold on the West Bank.
"With the decision coming while Netanyahu is visiting Washington, only one message comes out of this visit: Israel will continue its old policy and will not abide by the international will and give the Palestinians their national rights," Sabri Saidam said.
Located behind a hill and off of a rural road, Maskiot housed only a small Orthodox pre-military academy until the arrival of the Shirat Hayam families, the first of whom came early in 2007 and settled in two empty structures belonging to the school. Although the site has been designated as a settlement since the mid-1980s, it has only been used for educational purposes and no permanent community had ever been established there.
Settlers have said Maskiot is technically not a new settlement because of its history as a military outpost. But Hagit Ofran of the Israeli group Peace Now, which opposed settlement construction, said moving in civilians changes the site's status. "This is a new settlement in all respects," she said.
The Shirat Hayam project was given initial approval by then-defense minister Shaul Mofaz and prime minister Ariel Sharon in the fall of 2005. In December 2006, then-defense minister Amir Peretz tried to give the project its final set of authorizations, but changed his mind after the international community, including the United States, condemned the move.
The families moved into the area after becoming impatient with the length of time it was taking to obtain building permits.
Head of the local council David Elhayani told Army Radio that everything was done legally.
"There is a consensus within the Zionist parties that the Jordan Valley must remain under Israeli control in any agreement that may be reached," he said. "The Jordan Valley must be strengthened for the sake of security.."
Peace Now Secretary-General Yariv Oppenheimer said the move was an expression of Netanyahu's plan to thwart any efforts to establish a Palestinian state.
"It is clear that Netanyahu does not intend to commit to the two-state solution," he said. "His policy is to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state for years to come. The way to do this is to build settlements and make all of us - Jews and Arabs - live in one state."
Tovah Lazaroff contributed to this report
YNET: "MK: Expansion of settlement 'slap in Obama's face'"
Contractors tour Maskiot as Netanyahu lands in Washington; council chairman says timing 'coincidental', but Peace Now head claims planned expansion 'clear message to US'
Efrat Weiss
As Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plane landed in Washington Sunday, contractors were being given a tour of the northern Jordan Valley settlement Maskiot in the framework of a tender that was issued to build a new neighborhood there..
"The tender is part of the process to populate the community," Jordan Valley Regional Council Chairman David Elhayani told Ynet.
"This process takes a few months to complete. The timing is coincidental, and anyone who says otherwise is jeopardizing Israel's security-related interests. There is a consensus among the Zionist parties that the Jordan Valley must remain under Israel's control in any future (peace) agreement."
Peace Now Secretary-General Yariv Oppenheimer said the fact that the contractors' tour coincided with Netanyahu's trip to Washington was "an indication of the government's plan to expand isolated settlements.
"This sends a clear message to the US and the international community as a whole regarding the government's plan to expand settlement construction," he said.
Elhayani said in response "it's shocking to think that the leftists of Peace Now are doing everything, and I mean everything, to undermine Israel's security interests."
Established in 1982, Maskiot formerly housed a Nahal Brigade base and several years ago included a pre-conscription military academy for national-religious youth. In December 2006, then-Defense Minister Amir Peretz approved the decision to build 30 new homes in the religious community, where the evacuees from the settlement of Shirat Hayam in Gush Katif could be housed. Peretz later revoked his decision amid US pressure.
In July 2008 Defense Minister Ehud Barak authorized the settlement's repopulation with 50 families, some of them from the evacuated Jewish settlements in Gaza. Currently about 10 families reside in Maskiot, but many others are waiting for their lots to be released.
"The decision to populate Maskiot was approve by Barak; the residents of the Jordan Valley are law abiding citizens," Elhayani said. "I'm certain that the citizens of Israel would be pleased to learn that we are carrying on with the strengthening of the Jordan Valley, which is the country's security belt."
Yesha Council Chairman Danny Dayan told Ynet regarding the construction plans at Maskiot "Peace Now is sabotaging Netanyahu's mission to seek support against the Iranian nuclear program in Washington."
Knesset Member Ahmad Tibi (United Arab List-Ta'al) criticized the decision to hold a construction bid for a new neighborhood in the northern Jordan Valley settlement.
"The Israeli government is acting like a bull in a China shop by expanding settlements all across the West Bank," he said, adding that Monday's meeting between US President Barack Obama and Netanyahu "will be tested by the US' ability to compel Israel to halt all settlement construction."
Knesset Member Yohanan Plesner (Kadima) called the decision "foolish", saying it "would turn Israel into a bi-national state and deteriorate Israel's relations with the US."
MK Shlomo Molla, also of Kadima, said "the PM is slapping Obama in the face by expanding the settlement under the false pretense of natural growth.
"The PM and his associates would be better off evacuating settlements, launching negotiations and concentrating on the demographic problem," he said.
Xinhua (Chinese) Radio: Israel to build new settlement in West Bank
5/18/09
JERUSALEM, May 18 (Xinhua) -- A new Jewish settlement will be built in northern West Bank for the first time in 26 years, Israeli Army Radio reported Monday.
A tender of 20 residential units was issued recently for the new settlement named Maskiot, which is to be established on the ruins of another settlement abandoned years ago, according to the report.
The report said the construction plan, which was to transform a former army outpost into a permanent settlement for Jewish evacuees from the Gaza Strip, was initiated in late 2006 by former Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz, but was frozen due to the U.S. pressure.
The United States and other western countries have been calling on Israel to halt its settlement expansion. U.S. President Barack Obama, who will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington Monday, said several times that Israel should stop all settlement activities in line with the obligations that it undertook as part of the 2003 international "roadmap" peace plan.
However, David Ahayeini, head of the Jordan Valley Regional Council that oversees Maskiot, has insisted that the construction is being carried out completely legally.
"There is full consensus among Zionist parties that the Jordan Valley must remain under Israeli control within the framework of any diplomatic deal," Ahayeini was quoted as saying. "The Jordan Valley is needed for the sake of state security, and woe to the administration that strays from this path."
The local anti-settlement watchdog Peace Now movement said the move is the proof that "Netanyahu is not ready to commit to a two-state solution" and is striving to prevent the creation of a Palestinian state.
There are more than 280,000 Israeli settlers currently living in the occupied West Bank and some 200,000 living in settlements in annexed east Jerusalem, according to the Peace Now statistics.
DPA: "Israel to build first new West Bank settlement in 13 years"
May 18, 2009
Tel Aviv/Ramallah - In a move certain to raise international ire, Israel is beginning the construction of the first completely new Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank in more than a decade, the Peace Now watchdog group said Monday.
The moves come as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was due to attend his first meeting with US President Barack Obama later Monday, despite US and European calls for Israel to halt its settlement activity.
US Vice President Joe Biden earlier this month called on Israel to end settlement expansion.
'You're not going to like my saying this, but (Israel should) not build more settlements (and) dismantle existing outposts,' Biden told a pro-Israeli lobbying group in Washington.
Obama is expected to issue the same demand during his meeting with Netanyahu later Monday.
Palestinians, who demand a complete end to Israeli settlement activity as a prerequisite for a peace treaty, described the Israeli move as 'a blunt provocative act.'
Contractors toured the site of the new Maskiyot settlement on Sunday morning, after the regional settler council issued a tender for the construction of 20 new homes on it, Peace Now said.
Maskiyot, located in the Jordan Valley at some 20 kilometres east of Nablus, would be the first new settlement to be built in the West Bank in 13 years. It would also be the first new settlement in the Jordan Valley in 26 years.
Expansion work also began Monday on the Jewish settlement of Nokdim, the home of ultra-nationalist Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, Israel Army Radio reported. No further details were immediately available.
Nabil Abu Rudeineh, the spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said the 'Israeli provocation' demanded response form the United States 'and a genuine and concrete pressure on Netanyahu that would guarantee a halt to all settlement activities.'
The Maskiyot project was first mooted some three years ago, and was intended to house Jewish settler families evacuated from Gaza following Israel's 2005 unilateral pullout from the strip.
But the project was frozen in January 2007 by then defence minister Amir Peretz following massive international pressure.
Current Defence Minister Ehud Barak, of the left-to-centre coalition Labour Party, unfroze the project when he was still a member of the outgoing Israeli government of Ehud Olmert, Peace Now said.
The project's implementation is now starting under the new government of Netanyahu, which took office following February 10 elections in which the right-wing bloc of parties won a majority of seats in Israel's parliament.
Israel has insisted Maskiyot is not a new settlement, because it has existed since 1982 in the form of a military outposts established with the express purpose of building a civilian settlement on the site later on. The military outpost still exists and contains a pre- military academy, but this is located at the foot of the hilltop, at some 200 metres from the construction site.
Almost 280,0000 Jewish settlers live in some 121 Jewish settlements across the West Bank among 2.4 million Palestinians.
Barak's office did not immediately reply to the written query it demanded.
The last formal new Jewish settlement was built in the Jordan Valley in the early 1980s. The last official new settlement to have been built in the West Bank is Modi'in Ilit, near Jerusalem, established in 1996, according to Peace Now.
Since then, the Israeli government has expanded existing settlements, but built no new ones. Jewish settlers have also since then erected some 100 outposts without formal government authorization.
The 2003 'road map' peace plan calls on Israel to uproot these unauthorized outposts and to freeze all construction in existing settlements.
May 19, 2009
McClatchy Washington Bureau: "No progress visible from Obama-Netanyahu talks"
by Margaret Talev and Dion Nissenbaum
WASHINGTON - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu emerged Monday from hours of meetings with President Barack Obama agreeing to restart the Palestinian peace process "immediately," but with conditions that indicated that no breakthroughs are imminent.
Obama, meanwhile, defended his diplomatic approach to Israel's enemy Iran, saying that the Iranian-supported terrorist groups Hamas and Hezbollah had grown stronger under the Bush administration's no-diplomacy stance toward Iran.
"We're not going to have talks forever," Obama said, and he predicted that "we should have a fairly good sense by the end of the year" as to whether a diplomatic approach to Iran is going anywhere.
In a joint appearance with Obama at the White House, Netanyahu said that any progress with the Palestinians would hinge on the Palestinians recognizing Israel as a Jewish state.
Netanyahu also declined to use the phrase "two-state solution," which Obama said should be the goal. Instead, Netanyahu said that Israelis "don't want to govern Palestinians. We want to live in peace with them. We want them to govern themselves, absent a handful of powers that could endanger the state of Israel."
Obama said that Israeli "settlements have to be stopped in order for us to move forward." Netanyahu, however, made no public commitment toward that, and as they met, Israeli settlers were moving forward with plans to build Israel's first new settlement in the Jordan Valley in more than a quarter-century.
The two leaders spoke kindly to one another. Netanyahu called Obama "a great leader of the world" and a friend. Obama praised the prime minister's "youth and wisdom" and announced, "I'm confident that he's going to seize this moment."
However, their body language appeared strained at times during their public appearance, and Obama made clear that he expects Israel to make some concessions.
"We have seen progress stalled on this front, and I suggested to the prime minister that he has an historic opportunity to get a serious movement on this issue during his tenure," he said.
The leaders didn't issue any joint agreement following the meeting, which comes a week ahead of separate meetings Obama has scheduled with President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
In a conference call with media after the joint appearance, organized by the pro-diplomacy Israel Peace Forum, Samuel Lewis, a former U.S. ambassador to Israel, said of Obama and Netanyahu, "I don't know that they moved the ball."
Oded Eran, a former Israeli ambassador to the European Union and peace negotiator who also participated on the call, said, "I don't think there was a change in Netanyahu's position ... there's nothing new."
David Elhanni, the head of the Jordan Valley Regional Council, said Monday that builders toured the site as they prepared to bid on a plan to build the first 20 homes.
The Maskiot settlement is one of the most contentious in the West Bank. Israel has agreed under the U.S.-backed Road Map peace plan not to build new settlements in the West Bank, but it doesn't accept the plan's requirements that it halt all building in existing settlements.
Settlers and Israeli leaders contend that Maskiot isn't a new settlement because it's been used as a military prep school for years.
Debra DeLee, the president of Americans for Peace Now, described the settlement news as "a slap in the face to President Obama."
"Israel can't have it both ways," said DeLee. "Netanyahu can't come to Washington to talk peace while building a new settlement in the West Bank."
Ilan Ghilon, a left-leaning Israeli lawmaker with the nation's Meretz Party, said, "The government is on its way to a collision with the Obama administration."
Ahmad Tibi, an Arab member of Israel's parliament, the Knesset, said Netanyahu's government was "acting like an elephant in a china store."
The chief Palestinian negotiator, Saeb Erakat, issued a statement saying that Palestinians welcomed Obama's involvement and support for a two-state solution, but that "only a reversal in Israel's policies on the ground can restore credibility to the peace process."
"This includes an immediate and complete freeze on all settlement activity, including all natural growth, lifting all restrictions on Palestinian movement, and an immediate end to Israel's siege on Gaza," he said.
"By failing to endorse the two-state solution, Benjamin Netanyahu missed yet another opportunity to show himself to be a genuine partner for peace," he said.
BBC: "Obama presses Netanyahu over two-state plan"
US President Barack Obama has urged visiting Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu to accept a Palestinian state.
After their first talks since both took office, Mr Obama restated his support for a two-state plan and said the US would be "engaged in the process".
He also said Israel had an obligation under the 2003 "roadmap" to stop Jewish settlement in the West Bank.
Mr Netanyahu said he was ready to start peace talks "immediately" but refrained from endorsing a Palestinian state.
After their meeting in Washington, Mr Obama said he had suggested the Israeli prime minister had a "historic opportunity to get a serious movement" on Palestinian statehood.
"I firmly believe it is not in Iran's interest to develop nuclear weapons"
Barack Obama US president
Mr Netanyahu said Israel was ready to live "side by side" with Palestinians and he could resume talks immediately, but any agreement depended on Palestinian acceptance of Israel's right to exist "as a Jewish state", he added.
Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat reacted with derision to Mr Netanyahu's remarks.
"How can I govern myself by myself as a Palestinian with his occupation going on on my neck on the hour every hour? With his roadblocks segregating our towns and villages and refugee camps?" he said.
A Hamas official, Musher al-Masri, said the Americans still were not treating Israel and the Palestinians even-handedly.
In Israel itself, right-wingers said they were worried the Americans were moving away from their commitment to Israel's security, while opposition Kadima politicians said Mr Netanyahu had missed the chance to forge real trust with President Obama.
Nuclear Iran
The BBC's Kim Ghattas in Washington says Mr Obama was clearly putting the onus on Mr Netanyahu to accept a Palestinian state.
The BBC's Kim Ghattas, in Washington
The two leaders emphasised very different issues during the comments they made to the cameras.
Mr Obama reiterated his commitment to a two-state solution between the Israelis and the Palestinians but Mr Netanyahu refrained, as he has done since he's taken office, from uttering the words "Palestinian state".
The Israeli prime minister emphasised repeatedly that his top priority was to deal with the threat Iran poses because of its nuclear programme and insisted that progress on the peace track went hand in hand with tackling Iran.
So while there was no public spat, the gap remains and may put a real dent in Mr Obama's plans for grand peacemaking in the Middle East.
The differences between the two men are still there, she says, adding that the meeting has given Mr Obama an opportunity to assess how big the gap is, and how he can move forward ahead of meetings with Egyptian and Palestinian leaders next week.
Our correspondent says Mr Netanyahu came to Washington with his own list of priorities, topped by Iran's nuclear programme.
"There's never been a time when Arabs and Israelis see a common threat the way we see it today," the Israeli prime minister said.
Mr Obama said "it is not in Iran's interest" to develop nuclear arms, and that the US would keep options open.
He stressed that "we should have some sense by the end of the year" on whether talks with Iran were bearing fruit.
Amid reports from Israel that the authorities were moving ahead with plans to expand a Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank, Mr Obama said Israel had an obligation to stop Jewish settlement activity.
Tenders have been issued to build 20 housing units in Maskiot, a former Israeli military base that has been designated for housing settlers removed from Gaza in 2005.
Israeli campaign group Peace Now says this is a clear message to Washington that the Israeli government intends to expand settlements, which are considered illegal under international law.
UPI: "Israel moves to expand settlement"
May 18, 2009
JERUSALEM, May 18 (UPI) -- Israel is moving to expand a West Bank Jewish settlement even as Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama, critics say.
The Israeli group Peace Now said the government Monday was conducting a contractors' tour of the Maskiot settlement in the Jordan River Valley with the aim of adding more Jewish families there, even though the Obama administration opposes the building of more settlements in occupied Palestinian territories, Ynetnews.com reported.
Peace Now Secretary-General Yariv Oppenheimer told the Web site the fact that the contractors' tour coincided with Netanyahu's trip to Washington was "an indication of the government's plan to expand isolated settlements. This sends a clear message to the U.S. and the international community as a whole regarding the government's plan to expand settlement construction."
Kadima Knesset member Shlomo Molla told Ynetnews, "The PM is slapping Obama in the face by expanding the settlement under the false pretense of natural growth."
But Jordan Valley Regional Council Chairman David Elhayani said the move to repopulate the area was made by last year by Defense Minister Ehud Barak, with some of the new families coming from evacuated Jewish settlements in Gaza.
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