Israel fast-tracks plan to build settler units

Benjamin Netanyahu launches his election campaign yesterday. 

ISRAEL has advanced the process of building 942 more settler homes in East Jerusalem under a new fast-track plan to tighten its grip on the territory, which the Palestinians claim as the capital of a future state.

The plan's announcement came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday launched his campaign for the January 22 general election with a pledge that halting Tehran's nuclear program would be his first priority as premier.

"Who do (Israeli voters) think is the most suitable candidate to deal with the Iranian threat? With the missile threat? With the threat of terror?" he asked supporters in Jerusalem.

In his speech, Mr Netanyahu expanded at length for his domestic audience on what he termed his government's economic achievements and laid out his goals. He only briefly addressed the peace process.

"Our hand will continue to be extended to our neighbours for true and mutual peace, while continuing to insist on the state of Israel's vital interests - I'm telling you - in the face of all the pressure," he said.

A government planning committee on Monday moved the project to the advanced stage of asking contractors to submit bids to build them, the Interior Ministry said on Tuesday. Once a bid is awarded, construction can begin on the project in the Gilo area, although it can take months, if not longer, to reach that point.The green light for the fast-track development of 942 settlement units around Jerusalem brings the total number of new approvals to more than 5000 in just over a week - the largest wave of proposed expansion in recent memory.

An extra 300 units could be built after further planning, said attorney Daniel Seidemann, an expert on Jerusalem construction who sees the building as an obstacle to peacemaking. About 40,000 Israelis live in Gilo.

"With God's help, we will continue to live and build in Jerusalem, which will remain united under Israeli sovereignty," Mr Netanyahu said at his campaign launch. "We will continue to strengthen the settlements."

Nabil Abu Rdeneh, a spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said the new Israeli announcement was a "red line" that would block the chance for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, in which a Palestinian state would be established alongside Israel.

"The Palestinian Authority will take all the posble means available to respond to this," said Abu Rdeneh. The statement was posted on the official Palestinian news agency Wafa.

Polls predict Mr Netanyahu's Likud party, which is running on a joint list with the ultranationalist Yisrael Beiteinu faction of former foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman, will be by far the largest party in the next parliament.