Olmert: Israel ‘deviating from road map’

 The Independent, January 5, 2008

By Amy Tiebel, Associated Press Writer

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, in an unprecedented public acknowledgement yesterday, called continued Israeli construction in West Bank settlements a breach of Israel’s obligations under a recently revived peace plan.

Olmert’s remarks, which appeared in The Jerusalem Post daily, came just days before US President George W. Bush arrives in the region to build on the momentum created at a recent Mideast peace conference in Annapolis, Maryland. They fell short of the Palestinians’ demand for a total freeze on settlement construction — but were significant because Israel has never openly admitted before that it wasn’t living up to the internationally backed “road map” peace plan.

His comments also built on his recent efforts to defuse frictions over construction in disputed territories. Construction plans announced after the Annapolis conference have antagonized the Palestinians and disrupted fledgling peace talks, renewed after seven years of still-simmering violence.

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