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Today’s headlines are all about Sharon’s parliamentary victory: he won’t have to put the Gaza withdrawal plan up for a public referendum. But the real news is the expansion of Israel’s Ma’aleh Adumim settlement in the West Bank, to the tune of 3,500 new housing units. Heavy settlement in this critical area would spell the end of Palestinians’ hopes for a viable, contiguous state, and probably the end of the peace process. Sharon’s plan is in clear violation of Israel’s prior committments to the United States. The question is whether our government will take concrete steps to enforce the agreements.

When I was in the West Bank earlier this month, the extent of Israeli expansion into Palestinian territory was obvious. You could not drive a few miles anywhere in Palestinian territory without seeing settlements on the hilltops.

The Palestinians are watching their land being taken bit by bit. As the Sasson report documented, expansion continued unabated through the Oslo period, during which time the parties were supposed to be moving toward final status talks. No one - not Israel, not America, not even their Arab neighbors - seemed to care that they were being drivien from their home. That’s what the Intifada was about.

Annexation of Ma’aleh Adunim would leave the Palestinians completely cut off from East Jerusalem - which they have anticipated as their capital in a final status agreement - and would bisect the West Bank into non-contiguous northern and southern sections. A recent editorial in Ha’aretz pointed out:

Ma’aleh Adumim is a large town, with more than 40,000 residents. Presumably, the chance that it will be evacuated is nil. The question of what will happen to the territory between it and Jerusalem must be determined in the negotiations with the Palestinians.

Logic says the area should be preserved for Palestinian construction. Israel should not be interested in blocking the connection between the northern and southern parts of the West Bank, and it should leave open negotiations about the Palestinian capital, the special status of the Temple Mount and the Arab neighborhoods of Jerusalem.

For the Palestinians, Sharon’s plan essentially forecloses the possiblity of a negotiated settlement. Abbas said on Sunday, “Any talk of settlements that is not a discussion of stopping them is unacceptable. Here I’m talking about the discussions of annexing settlement blocs. This is unacceptable because this affects final status issues.”

Of course, a negotiated settlement is not what Sharon is after. I think Aluf Ben got it right in today’s Ha’aretz:

Sharon grew up in the era of the British mandate, and was educated on the “dunam after dunam” principles of practical Zionism. Ideology and sublime ideas never interested him, and even now he finds them difficult to understand and has contempt for them. For him, only power matters…

Two years ago, Sharon updated the goals of the war with the Palestinians. His demand that they surrender unconditionally was replaced with a policy of strengthening the “blocs” and preparing for their annexation to Israel: Ma’aleh Adumim, Ariel, Gush Etzion, Beit Arye. Ever since, Sharon has aimed unswervingly for that goal, with the planning of the fence, the construction permits and the land takeovers. He was correct in his assessment that if he promises to evacuate a few isolated settlements, the world will forgive his construction in the blocs.

The question is whether the U.S. will, indeed, overlook this. Israel committed explicitly two years ago to freeze new settlement construction over existing lines. However, it has managed to block efforts to define these lines until a few days ago, when the government finally released arial photographs showing the extent of existing population centers in the settlements.

Condoleeza Rice made a point of telling the LA Times that the Ma’aleh Adumim expansion was

“not really a satisfactory response…”

Rice said that despite recent progress, the peace effort remains at a “fragile” stage and that Arafat’s successor, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, needs help from outside as he tries to reform the government and bring its security services under control.

She said U.S. officials expected Israel “to be careful about anything” - including settlements, new laws or the route of a barrier being built to separate Israelis from Palestinians - that could affect the outcome of peace negotiations.

“It’s concerning that this is where it is, and around Jerusalem,” Rice said.

“We will continue to note that this (settlement expansion) is at odds with…American policy. So, full stop,” she said.

Furthermore, Yedioth Ahronoth caused a stir when it reported that Dan Kurtzer, the U.S. Ambassador to Israel, in a speech to Foreign Ministry cadets,

rejected Ariel Sharon’s claim of an “understanding” with U.S. President George W. Bush that large settlement blocs in the West Bank will remain under Israeli sovereignty under any final status agreement with the Palestinians…

“I can assure you that no such understandings were reached. I have discussed the matter with Washington, and I have received full support on this matter.”

Kurtzer also said Israel makes “mistakes in the American diplomatic arena: Israelis have a tendency to go over and over the same issues, time after time. For instance, at the beginning of every meeting the Israelis repeat the mantra ‘Jerusalem, the eternal undivided capital of Israel.’

But he said that, despite the fact that “America is paying a steep price for defending Israel in international forums,” Kurtzer confirmed, “but it is a price the United States is prepared to pay.”

Kurtzer denied the remarks after the story came out. From today’s Washington Times:

The U.S. ambassador and embassy officials referred to a letter from President Bush published in April supporting Israel’s retention of large settlement blocks as part of a peace accord with the Palestinians.

“The president’s letter of April of last year is the definitive policy, and that hasn’t changed,” said embassy spokesman Paul Patin, summarizing the ambassador’s clarification.

The key distinctions there are that the U.S. agreed to retention of existing settlement blocks, not expansion; and that this was supposed to be included in the final status negotiations, not preempt them.

I read into all this that the State Department is hopping mad about the Adumim tender. Whether Bush pays any attention to State is another matter. He certainly didn’t in his first term. We’ll see when Sharon visits in April. Sharon is quoted in today’s Ha’aretz saying

The large blocs of settlement in the West Bank “will remain in Israel’s hands and will fall within the (separation) fence, and we made this position clear to the Americans. This is our position, even if they express reservations.”

The Adumim issue is critical to the peace process. If Israel is allowed to settle the area surrounding East Jerusalem, there won’t be much of anything left to negotiate.

Right now, in the occupied territories, there is some glimmer of hope for a diplomatic solution. An acquaintance there told me, “the military guys have stepped back to give Abbas a chance. They’re not expecting much.” If diplomacy fails, the Palestinians will fight for their territory with everything they’ve got.

For those Americans, especially Jewish Americans, who do care about a just and peaceful end to the conflict, this would be an apt time to contact the White House and your congressional representative. Ask that the U.S. take firm measures to try to halt Israeli settlement expansion.

If you want to do more - join the protest in Crawford from April 9-11.