OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (Agencies)
The Israeli government is seeking a court ban on the publication of a key report on settlements, just days before U.S. President George W. Bush begins his landmark visit.
In response to a court petition for the state report to be made public, the defense ministry argued it should be kept under wraps "for fear of harming state security and foreign relations," the Peace Now group said Monday.
"State security, as well as protection of foreign relations, are serving as a pretext for the state to try and hide things that are plainly visible," Yariv Oppenheimer, chief of the anti-settlement group, told AFP.
The defense ministry had no immediate comment.
Peace Now and the Movement for Freedom of Information in Israel had filed a petition at a Tel Aviv administrative court asking that the 2006 Spiegel report -- which reportedly revealed widespread building in dozens of settlements -- be released publicly.
Israeli settlements on Arab land captured in the 1967 Six Day War -- all considered illegal by the international community -- are one of the most contentious issues of the decades-old Middle East conflict.
The issue has been a key source of discord between the two sides since they re-launched peace talks in late November at a U.S. conference after a break of nearly seven years.
Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas has repeatedly said the negotiations cannot succeed unless Israel halts settlement activity, and Washington has criticized Israel over plans to expand settlements that were announced shortly after the U.S. conference.
Bush -- who will stay in Israel and the Palestinian territories from Wednesday to Friday on the first visit by a sitting U.S. president in nine years -- last week called in an interview on Israel to dismantle outposts. |
 |
Wildcat protests Also Monday, around 100 Israeli peace activists called for a freeze on settlement activity during a protest at the largest unauthorized settlement in the occupied West Bank.
"It is time to stop lying to ourselves and to the Americans," Oppenheimer told AFP.
The demonstration was staged at the Migron outpost, which with 45 families is the largest settlement not authorized by the Israeli government in the West Bank.
Peace Now estimates that there are currently more than 100 wildcat outposts across the West Bank -- settlements that are not authorized by the state.
More than 260,000 Israelis are estimated to live in government-authorized settlements across the Palestinian territory, with another 200,000 living in settlements in annexed east Jerusalem. |
