Netanyahu: 'Hamastan' in West Bank must be prevented
By SHEERA CLAIRE FRENKEL
Any West Bank land that Israel fails to settle is land made available for another "Hamastan," said Likud chairman Binyamin Netanyahu Wednesday during a tour of Judea and Samaria.
"Any areas we evacuate now will be taken over by Hamas, which is simply a tool of Iran. The only reason this is not also Hamastan, like the Gaza Strip has become, is because the IDF is here," said Netanyahu.
Netanyahu, who will likely be reelected Likud chairman next month, displayed his commitment to settler expansion by then planting a sapling in the unauthorized outpost of Kida, near Shiloh.
"I wish I could plant more than this tree, but that will have to wait," said Netanyahu, as he bent down to tuck earth around the sapling.
Congratulating the young farmers on being true capitalists, in addition to settlers, Netanyahu said that he was reminded of the "early pioneering spirit of Israel."
"I would like to see the maximum possible development, and the maximum possible area kept in any future peace deal," said Netanyahu.
"The current government seems to have give up on much of the territory before they have even begun negotiations."
Netanyahu's decision to visit an illegal outpost was highly controversial, and members of his staff considered canceling the appearance hours before. Likud activists from within the settler movement insisted that he visit the outpost, claiming that it would set the tone for his eventual campaign as prime minister.
"The Likud has received much support from the people here and, God willing, Bibi [Netanyahu] will be elected as the next prime minister with the help of the settlers," said Pinhas Wallerstein, a West Bank settler leader.
Netanyahu's campaign for the premiership appeared to have already begun Wednesday as he announced that under his control, broad economic incentives and state-sponsored businesses would increase in the West Bank.
"The potential in the West Bank is enormous," said Netanyahu. "When you are sitting in the prime minister's office the pressure of the whole world is on you. I have the power to ease that pressure and to make the settlements blossom."
Certain settlements, including Eli and Hebron, must be expanded and given the complete support of the state, he said.
"These areas, like the Jewish settlement Hebron, go back to our people's history," said Netanyahu. "They go back to the essence of Zionism."
Netanyahu also promised to advance a plan to build more Jewish-only roads to link the settlements with Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, affording settlers more business opportunities.
Likud leadership candidates Moshe Feiglin and Danny Danon both criticized Netanyahu's visit to Judea and Samaria.
Danon called on the Yesha Council to boycott the visit, pointing out that during Netanyahu's term as prime minister he had often disappointed the settlers.
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DEBKAfile Exclusive: Olmert approves American plan for big new Palestinian town on West Bank
August 2, 2007, 4:52 PM (GMT+02:00)
To be situated 20 km south of Nablus and 35 km north of Ramallah on the road linking them, the town is planned for 30-40,000 Palestinian inhabitants in the first stage, expanding in the second to 70,000 ten years hence. It will be located in Area B under Israeli security control.
Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert has kept the project, which represents a major strategic restructure of West Bank geography, under his hat. He did not submit the American plan to the cabinet, or even the security-political ministerial forum, before giving the go-ahead to the visiting US secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, Wednesday night, Aug. 1.
DEBKA-Net-Weekly’s sources report that the new town site will encompass the Palestinian villages of Qabalan, Oseria and Qudela and straddle Trans-Samaria Highway 505 opposite Tapuach junction. The US planners intend the new town to provide territorial contiguity between Nablus and Ramallah. At the same time, it will cut off Israeli villages in the Jordan Valley from the settlement blocs in Samaria.
The new Palestinian urban entity, which our sources reveal Olmert first learned about in his talks with President Bush on June 19, will be the first Arab town to go up in the region in 1,500 years, since the foundation of Ramleh.
During his White House visit, Olmert learned that the Americans regard the Palestinian town as a primary project for consolidating Mahmoud Abbas’ government. It is designed to provide tens of thousands of jobs for West Bankers, whose unemployment rate has soared to 70 percent since the Palestinian uprising was launched against Israel in 2000.
American town planners and architects hired by the US government have prepared initial diagrams after secret visits to the site. During her current tour, Rice showed the plans to the Israeli prime minister, Abbas and Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad.
The problem still outstanding is financing. It was hoped that the Saudis would put up part of the initial investment for the foundations. When he brokered the Mecca accord for a Palestinian unity government earlier this year, the monarch pledged $250 million in aid to the Palestinians. However, this hope was dashed, when King Abdullah flatly refused to hear of aid to the Abbas regime in his talks with the US secretary in Jeddah Tuesday.
Click HERE to see the full-size map.http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=4465
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