Israeli Premier Lifts Freeze on Construction in the Golan

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak on Thursday lifted a freeze on government construction in the occupied Golan Heights in what officials described as a gesture to pressure Syria on peace talks.

At a news conference with visiting Chinese President Jiang Zemin, Barak said several “projects that had been delayed for several months on the Golan Heights will get permission to move forward” under the new policy. Barak did not specify what the projects were, and other officials said no construction is imminent.

“I believe it’s only natural that since we see the door is left with a very small crack of possibilities of renewal of talks with Syria” that the construction go forward, Barak said.

News of the decision drew cheers from some of the estimated 17,000 Jewish settlers in the Golan Heights, a plateau overlooking the Sea of Galilee that Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Middle East War.

Israeli-Syrian negotiations over return of the Golan in exchange for a peace treaty stalled in January, and President Clinton failed in an attempt last month to revive the talks.