By Xinhua
Jerusalem : Israel’s obligations to freeze settlement construction under the roadmap peace plan does not prevent it from engaging in “other lawful activities,” Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was quoted on Sunday by local daily Ha’aretz as saying.
Olmert said this in a letter to ministers of defense, housing and agriculture, the report said.
In the letter, the prime minister stated that founding and expanding settlements, drafting plans, issuing tenders, expropriating land and other such activities require advance approval from the prime minister and the defense minister, however, he failed to make it clear whether this permit already got approval from the cabinet and security authorities.
Meanwhile, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak approved a resolution prohibiting thousands of Palestinians from moving freely on a road in the southern West Bank because of the outpost Naguhot.
According to human rights attorney Talia Sasson’s report on illegal outposts, Naguhot did not receive cabinet approval and its “security road” invades private Palestinian-owned land.
In response to Olmert’s letter, Sasson said that its ambiguous wording could be interpreted in a manner that contradicts the government’s obligation to freeze settlement building.