MARGARET WARNER:
There have been fierce protests from the pro-settler right wing in Israel. But Prime Minister Sharon is pushing ahead with his plan to remove all 21 Israeli settlements in Gaza this summer, plus four in the northern West Bank.
New Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas says he supports the move. But many Palestinians suspect the Israelis will use the Gaza pullout as cover to expand their settlements in the occupied West Bank. Those suspicions were inflamed two weeks ago, when Israel announced plans to expand a large West Bank settlement, Maale Adumim, just three miles East of Jerusalem; 3,500 housing units will be added where 30,000 Jewish settlers already live.
Palestinian officials angrily protested that the expansion would cut off their access to east Jerusalem and end hopes that it could become the capital of an eventual Palestinian state. Israel's announcement was swiftly criticized as well by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. She told the Los Angeles Times the move was "at odds with American policy," and called for a "full stop" of the project.
So expectations were high about a possible confrontation today when Prime Minister Sharon met with President Bush at his Texas ranch in their first face-to-face discussion in months. And the press conference afterwards did focus heavily on the expansion of Maale Adumim.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7sa7SZ6arn1%2Bjsri%2Fx6isq2ejnby4e8%2BrnKyhlJq7tXnBrqqhZaeWv6%2B%2FjKKqq5mVoXqis8CipaysXZfCqrjDoqWgZZ6axG6%2FxK2rpZ2dmru1v4yipWasmJp6uLHSrWSbmZ6g