Jerusalem – Israel said Wednesday that it had ordered the seizure of land owned by Palestinians to build a separation barrier that will encompass the West Bank’s largest Jewish settlement.
Palestinian officials objected vehemently to the plan, which effectively annexes the settlement of Maale Adumim to Israel. They called on the Bush administration to intercede.
“This is a disastrous decision,” said Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator.
The plan would place Maale Adumim, 5 miles east of Jerusalem, inside the security barrier Israel is building around the West Bank.
The settlement has been cited repeatedly by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon as among the Jewish population centers in the West Bank that Israel intends to keep if and when the Palestinians achieve statehood.
The first of the expropriation orders called for the seizure of 22 acres in the village of A-tur, but local Palestinian leaders said they were told that more notices were to follow.
The landowners have the right to appeal the orders to Israel’s Supreme Court, and Palestinian officials indicated they would do so.
Erekat said that in the wake of Israel’s withdrawal from the Jewish settlements of the Gaza Strip and a small swath of the northern West Bank, “we are looking for hope and peace, but this step under- mines any attempt to resume meaningful negotiations.”
Israeli officials referred questions about the land seizures to the military, which issued the order and has broad discretion in such cases.
The letter sent to landowners, signed by Maj. Gen. Yair Naveh, the commander of Israeli forces in the West Bank, cited “special security circumstances prevailing in the region.”
Israel had announced plans to build 3,600 new homes in Maale Adumim, most of which would lie between the settlement and Jerusalem.
That initiative was criticized by the Bush administration this year. Israel’s Cabinet in February voted to place the settlement inside the barrier but did not specify its route.
Palestinians say the building project will sharply limit their access to Jerusalem from the West Bank and also restrict their ability to travel between the northern and southern halves of the West Bank.
Challenges to Israel’s high court have in several instances resulted in orders to reroute the 425-mile separation barrier, which is a blend of fencing and high concrete walls, augmented by patrol roads, watchtowers and trenches.
