Israel okays new West Bank settler homes despite moratorium

JERUSALEM (AFP/Reuters) - Israel has given the green light for the building of 112 new homes in a Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank despite a partial moratorium on such construction, a minister said on Monday.
The news surfaced as US Vice President Joe Biden arrived in the region, a day after the Palestinians agreed to hold indirect talks with Israel while warning that further settlement growth would threaten the entire peace process.
Israeli Environment Minister Gilad Erdan said the project in the Beitar Illit settlement near Bethlehem was an exception to a partial halt of settlement activity announced in November.
At the end of last year, the government decided to freeze construction, but this decision provided for exceptions in cases of safety problems for infrastructure projects started before the freeze, he told army radio.
This was the first item on the presidents agenda, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat said after a meeting between US Middle East envoy George Mitchell and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas in the West Bank.
The president said this cannot stand. We cannot tolerate that each time we have discussions on peace-making the Israeli government tenders more settlements, more incursions, more provocations, Erakat said.
We also again encourage the parties, and all concerned, to refrain from any statements or actions which may inflame tensions or prejudice the outcome of these talks, he added.
The new project was revealed a day after the Palestinians grudgingly agreed to four months of indirect peace negotiations with Israel mediated by the United States.
It also came as Biden made his first visit to the region since assuming office, after having stressed that relaunching Middle East peace talks was in the interests of Israel, the Palestinians and the United States.
Biden made no comment on his arrival at Tel Avivs Ben-Gurion airport and had no publicly scheduled meetings before talks on Tuesday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Shimon Peres.
In an interview with the biggest-selling Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth before leaving for Israel, Biden stressed US efforts to drum up greater diplomatic pressure on the Iranians, as well as unilateral measures imposed by the US Treasury.
Asked about the prospect of an Israeli attack, he said: Though I cannot answer the hypothetical questions you raised about Iran, I can promise the Israeli people that we will confront, as allies, any security challenge it will face. A nuclear-armed Iran would constitute a threat not only to Israel it would also constitute a threat to the United States.
The Palestinians insist they will only return to direct talks if Israel agrees to completely freeze settlement construction in the West Bank, including annexed Arab east Jerusalem.
The United States initially backed that demand, but has since called on both sides to immediately return to negotiations while routinely criticising Israeli settlement activity in line with longstanding policy. Erdan played down the chances of a strong US reaction to the latest settlement boost and blamed the Palestinians for stalling peace efforts.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Vice President Joe Biden know that the key is that the prime minister (Benjamin Netanyahu) is ready at any moment to engage in direct negotiations, he said.
However, Mahmud Abbas wants to limit the indirect negotiations to four months after months of setting unprecedented conditions for accepting dialogue, and this is not the way to discuss peace.
Israel announced a 10-month moratorium on new building permits for settler homes in the West Bank in November but it excludes east Jerusalem, public buildings and works already under way.
Around a half million Israelis live in more than 120 settlements scattered across the West Bank, including east Jerusalem. The international community considers all the settlements illegal.