Israel To Expand Settlements Netanyahu Angers Palestinians With His West Bank, Gaza Plans

Despite fears that violence is brewing in the West Bank and Gaza, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday he would push ahead with support for Jewish settlers and expansion of the settlements.

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat warned that Israel’s decision to give new financial support to settlements “is a ticking bomb with great dangers.”

But later Sunday, Arafat met with top Netanyahu aides Yitzhak Molcho and Dan Naveh “to reduce tensions, fight terrorism and continue with the peace process,” said Netanyahu spokesman David Bar-Illan.

Arafat then telephoned Netanyahu and during an “amiable” conversation said he hoped they could reach an agreement that would pave the way to Israel’s long-delayed pullout from the West Bank city of Hebron, Bar-Illan said.

Arafat’s office did not comment on the meeting or telephone call.

Earlier, Arafat had complained about the news of expansion. “Instead of carrying out necessary steps of the (peace) agreement, they decide to expand settlements,” he told the Yediot Ahronot newspaper. “It’s horrifying to think what might happen if a conflagration erupts as a result of the settlement expansion.”

The Israeli Cabinet decided Friday to give special tax breaks and benefits to settlements to entice more Israelis to join the 140,000 settlers who live among more than 2 million Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.

The decision angered Palestinians, who hope to establish an independent state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Netanyahu defended the policy Sunday, speaking on Israel radio.

“The world … is against Jewish settlement in the land of Israel (but) we think that it is the right of the Jews to settle in their homeland,” he said.

He suggested he was not planning new settlements, only expanding existing ones. He said the time for considering new settlements would be after a final deal with the Palestinians.