any eventual peace settlement, namely Ariel, Karnei Shomron, Betar Ilit and Maale Adumim, are to be built up with 1000 new housing units - but not expanded in geo area.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-settle18aug18.story Expansion in the Works for West Bank Settlements
Israel takes bids to build 1,000 housing units, despite commitments contained in peace plan.
By Ken Ellingwood
Times Staff Writer
August 18, 2004
JERUSALEM — The government of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on Tuesday announced bids to build 1,000 housing units in four West Bank settlements, a move that angered Palestinian officials and came amid growing U.S. impatience over the settlement issue.
Under a U.S.-backed diplomatic blueprint for peace, Israel said it would freeze settlement activity and uproot unauthorized outposts — small offshoots of settlements — that had been built since March 2001.
The Bush administration has expressed frustration about the lack of progress in dismantling the outposts and says that expanding settlements runs counter to Israeli promises under the peace plan. Its public criticism has been generally mild, though.
Officials at the White House and State Department refused to criticize Sharon over Tuesday's development but said they would ask the Israelis for specifics of the settlement plan before deciding whether it violates the principles of the peace plan.<snip>