NEW YORK, Aug 21 (AFP) - In an unannounced policy shift, Washington has given its approval for growth within some Israeli settlements in the West Bank, the New York Times reported Saturday, citing US and Israeli officials.
Although US policy and the internationally-backed roadmap for Middle East peace call for a freeze in all settlement activity, the administration of President George W. Bush now supports construction of new apartments in already built-up areas in some settlements, the Times said.
The move reflects a decision this week to lend support to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon during a time of political turmoil, an administration official told The Times, describing "a covert policy decision toward accepting natural growth" despite public statements to the contrary.
Thursday, White House national security adviser Condoleezza Rice said Israeli plans to build 1,000 new homes in Jewish settlements in the West Bank were inconsistent with the roadmap, the Middle East peace plan jointly drafted by the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia.
"We believe that the Israelis should live up to their obligations under the roadmap... And we've been very clear that settlement expansion is not consistent with our understanding under the roadmap," Rice said in a speech at the US Institute of Peace in Washington.
Despite such statements, US acceptance of limited settlement activity has been tacit for months, an unnamed Israeli official said.
"An Israeli official asserted that for some time, it was understood in Israel and in Washington that settlements could in effect expand vertically, within already dense construction areas, but not in an outer direction, and that the Americans understood this," the paper said.