WASHINGTON - The United States pressed Israel on Tuesday to end its settlement activities amid vows by the Jewish state to expand its largest settlements in the West Bank despite growing Palestinian anger.
The State Department reiterated that settlement expansion ran counter to the US-backed peace "road map" and said two senior US officials would drive the point home during talks in Israel this week.
"There needs to be an end to settlement activity," said deputy department spokesman Adam Ereli. "This is a vital, essential component of the road map, along with commitments on the Palestinian side."
"We are opposed to unilateral acts by either side that create facts on the ground and that have the result of prejudging issues that are to be settled through negotiations between the parties," Ereli said.
Israeli officials said Monday they would continue to build homes, offices and industrial areas in the settlements of Maale Adumim, Gush Etzion and Ariel. Palestinians said the move could wreck the newly revived peace process.
Ereli declined to comment on the specifics of the latest settlement plans, saying, "We are seeking clarifications from the Israeli government on what its intentions are, what its plans are."
He said US Ambassador Dan Kurtzer met Monday with Israeli officials, and Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs David Welch and Deputy National Security Adviser Elliott Abrams were due in Israel Tuesday on a previously planned trip.
"They will certainly use the opportunity to raise this issue with the Israeli government to seek clarifications and to, I think, make the point that US policy on this issue is very clear," Ereli said.
US President George W. Bush, whose administration has jumped back into efforts to end the 54-month-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict, called on Israel this month to freeze settlement activity.
But Bush -- who will host Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon at his Texas ranch next month -- has also said the final borders of any lasting settlement must take into account the demographic realities on the ground.
Israel has interpreted his comments as carte blanche to hold onto the main West Bank settlements where most of the 240,000 settlers live.
03/22/2005 20:34 GMT