U.S. AGREES TO ISRAEL'S KEEPING LARGE SETTLEMENT BLOCS IN WEST BANK

PM: Understanding with U.S. about West Bank settlement blocs holds firm
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said yesterday that the American agreement on the settlement blocs stands firm. "There is nothing to worry about regarding the blocs. There was a very good American statement and it is clear that the agreement between myself and Bush stands firm," Sharon told Haaretz.

The American administration reiterated over the weekend the promises Bush had given Sharon at their previous meeting in April 2004, which centered on the recognition that the settlement blocs would remain in Israel's hands in a future final status agreement with the Palestinians.

Speaking to Yaron Dekel on Israel Radio this morning, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice reiterated Bush's promises to Sharon and said the president "strongly supports" the prime minister's disengagement plan.

"While we will not prejudice the outcome of final status negotiations, the changes on the ground, the `existing major Israeli population centers' will have to be taken in account in any final status negotiations," she said.

Rice went further than the vague phrasing of Bush's letter and made it clear that the term "Israeli population centers" refers directly to the "large settlement blocs."

Sharon: Israel will retain settlement blocs, despite U.S. objections
"We can't expect to receive explicit American agreement to build freely in the settlements," Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said at yesterday's cabinet meeting. 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," he said.

The U.S. administration makes a distinction between his position that the blocs will remain in Israeli hands after the final status agreement, and the issues of continuing construction in the settlements at the present phase, Sharon said.