Americans ask President Bush to end all aid to Israel.
Disagreement between Israel and Washington over the Jewish settlements issue is slight and expansion of the West Bank settlements will continue, despite the U.S. refusal, Israel’s government spokesman said on Wednesday.
“I’m not afraid of that,” Mr. Pazner said on i-tele. “Sharon explained that what we are doing is within the agreement we have with the United States.”
Speaking to a private French television channel, Israeli government spokesman Avi Pazner challenged the U.S. President George W Bush’s warning to stop expansion of a major West Bank settlement.
“Our strategic plan is the retreat of Israel from Gaza but in return we have asked that areas mostly populated by Israelis in the West Bank are, in a future agreement with the Palestinians, attached to Israel and we continue to populate them,” Mr. Pazner said.
“This is what the American president wrote” in a letter to Mr. Sharon in April 2004, he said.
On Tuesday, bulldozers cleared rubble and cranes hoisted equipment in the largest West Bank settlement a day after criticism from President Bush that clouded his Texas meeting with the Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon. Israel argues that the work is taking place within existing boundaries.
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