Sources: Israelis have plans for more housing units
JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Israeli officials, who are already seeking bids to build 1,001 new housing units in the West Bank, have plans for another 450 units, government sources said Monday.
Those sources said plans have been approved for 150 housing units in two settlements in the West Bank -- Adam and Emmanuel.
But sources said the housing ministry has not issued tenders for those housing units and there are no immediate plans to issue those bids.
There are also proposals, the sources said, to build another 200 housing units in Har Gilo and 100 in Har Adar.
While there are plans to seek bids to build those units, the sources said the Israeli Defense Ministry must first give its approval.
This move comes as Israeli Prime Minister Israel Sharon faces political pressure from supporters of Jewish settlers to scrap his so-called disengagement plan. The plan calls for the pullout of all Israeli troops and settlements from Gaza and parts of the West Bank.
When bids for the 1,001 new units were announced last week, a senior Israeli political source told CNN that the tenders published met previous Israeli criteria of building within the boundaries of settlements that are acceptable to the Bush administration.
Palestinian leaders denounced the plans for the new units, saying they violate the U.S.-backed "road map" for Middle East peace. The road map calls for Israel to freeze all settlement activity, among other conditions, and for both sides to take steps to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Saeb Erakat, the Palestinian Authority's chief negotiator, said such Israeli plans are "destroying the road map and violating all promises made to President Bush."
"We urge the American administration to directly interfere to revoke this decision because settlements will always undermine the efforts to revive the peace process," Erakat said last week.
Also last week, the Bush administration said it was attempting to obtain further clarification from Israel on the housing bids.
Sharon has run into stiff political opposition from backers of the settler movement who -- not only oppose the disengagement plan -- but who want to expand Israeli settlements on the West Bank and keep those settlements in any final agreement with the Palestinians for an independent Palestinian state.
Sharon's conservative Likud party passed a nonbinding resolution last week calling on him to drop plans to form a coalition with the Labor Party, a move that could give the prime minister the political support he needs to go ahead with his disengagement plan.
CNN's Shira Medding contributed to this report.
