Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin canceled a meeting this week concerning building in the territories after three ministers expressed doubts about the expansion of West Bank settlements.
The ministerial committee had been scheduled to discuss plans about the construction of about 5,000 housing units in the West Bank. The committee was created in January after controversy erupted over expansion in Efrat, a Jewish settlement in the Gush Etzion bloc.
The three officials expressing doubts were Foreign Minister Shimon peres, Communications Minister Shulamit Aloni and Justice Minister David Libai, Israel Television reported.
Housing Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer was supposed to have submitted a plan for approval that called for the construction of 1,800 homes in the Orthodox settlement Kiryat Sefer; 3,000 units in Ma’aleh Adumim, east of Jerusalem; and 800 units in Givat Ze’ev, northeast of the capital.
In addition, the housing minister was expected to seek approval to sell or rent 85 of 200 homes in Karnei Shomron that were built by the government, but never put up for sale.
The Peace Now movement welcomed the cancellation of the meeting, saying any extension of settlements undermines the peace process.
But members of the Council of Jewish Settlements in Judea, Samaria and Gaza said Rabin knuckled under to Palestinian opposition.
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