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Last update - 00:00 18/03/2002
Peace Now: 34 new settlements since Sharon took office
By Nadav Shragai, Ha'aretz Correspondent
 

The government has established 34 settlement outposts, including eight over the last two months, in the West Bank and Gaza Strip since the February 2001 elections, according to an aerial survey conducted by Peace Now and the results of which were published Monday. All of the outposts have been built at least 200 meters from existing settlements.

Peace Now has not visited the new sites due to the security situation. According to the group, the outposts have an independent infrastructure and thus should be considered new settlements. Peace Now noted that 40 such outposts were established during the Netanyahu government, and that while none were started during former prime minister Ehud Barak's tenure, some of the settlements established in previous years were retroactively given legal status.

Peace Now charged that the Sharon government is systematically violating its public commitment (as stipulated in the unity government's basic platform) not to establish new settlements. "Under Defense Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer, the settlers are carrying out an unprecedented takeover of additional lands," according to a statement released by the group. "Either Ben-Eliezer does not control what happens in the field, or he has given in to pressure from the settlers. Both possibilities point toward a deficient performance by someone who presumes to be a candidate for prime minister."

The defense minister's media advisor, Yarden Vatikaim, said that similar reports have been issued by Peace Now in the past and that the Defense Ministry found in these cases that the new sites were "outposts" (ma'ahzim) and not new "settlement points" (nikudot hityashvut). "The defense minister's directive to the IDF and the Civil Administration is to prevent any illegal activity on the ground," Vatikaim said.

The Yesha Council of Jewish settlements said in response that all the sites have been reviewed a number of times by defense officials and have met all of the required criteria. "It would be better for Peace Now to concentrate on locating the weapons given to the Palestinians that are now being used to kill Israelis in Kfar Sava and other Israeli cities," the statement said
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