Wednesday, Oct 01, 2003
The Israeli cabinet on Wednesday brushed aside international objections to its controversial defensive wall by voting to build the next section deep inside the West Bank.
However, as a concession to the US administration, the government decided for the time being to leave a gap in the barrier near one of the largest settlements in the territory, Ariel.
As a sign of displeasure at a project it says could prejudice negotiations on the borders of a future Palestinian state, the US administration has said it will consider withholding part of a $9bn (Ç7.7bn, GBP5.4bn) loan guarantee package to Israel.
The 45km stretch of fence approved yesterday will cost an estimated $100m. The decision was taken after high-level talks in Washington aimed at ironing out differences with the US administration.
The plan adopted by the government of Ariel Sharon, prime minister, opens the way for construction to begin on the central section of the fence, some 22km inside the West Bank.
The cabinet, voting 18-4, effectively deferred a decision on whether sections of the barrier designed to protect Ariel and neighbouring settlements would eventually join up with the main fence, which will run closer to the pre-1967 border.
In the meantime, gaps in the barrier will be guarded by the army. A double fence will enclose Jewish settlements and Arab villages that overlook Ben Gurion international airport, to the west of the border. Israeli media reports said a US expert would inspect the area to see if the section was really necessary to protect the airport, 5km away.
Mr Sharon reportedly told the cabinet it was not the time to decide on closing the gap around Ariel, as this would raise problems with Washington.
Richard Boucher, US State Department spokesman, said on Tuesday that the administration had postponed a decision on how much it would deduct from the three-year loan guarantee package.
John Dugard, United Nations human rights investigator, reported this week that the security barrier, which Israel said was vital to preventing attacks on its citizens, amounted to illegal annexation of Palestinian land.
The World Bank and other international aid donors to the Palestinian Authority have warned that the project threatens the livelihoods of tens of thousands of Palestinians.
B'Tselem, the Israeli human rights group, said on Wednesday. "Israel has the right to take measures necessary to defend its citizens. However, the minister of defence and the prime minister are manipulating the public's fear of suicide attacks in order to obtain political objectives."
Ministers associated with the West Bank's 240,000 Jewish settler community were among those who voted against the plan put to the cabinet on Wednesday.
Some hardline settlers oppose any barrier that might turn into a border with a Palestinian state, preventing future Jewish settlement elsewhere in the West Bank.
Yuli Edelstein, a parliamentarian from Mr Sharon's ruling Likud party, said Wednesday's decision on the route of the barrier was a "surrender to terrorism" that could take Israel back to its pre-1967 borders.
Israeli officials say the barrier is purely a security measure to safeguard Israeli citizens, including the 40,000 who inhabit the Ariel settlement bloc.
The proposed central section of the fence, running south of Qalqiliya almost as far as Jerusalem, is expected to be up to 70m wide and would include barbed wire barriers, a military road, electronic sensors and a dirt path to detect infiltrators.
Harvey Morris in Jerusalem
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