Israel Plans to Increase Settlements in the Golan

Israel disclosed plans Wednesday to expand Jewish settlements in the occupied Golan Heights, a move that angered Syria and could jeopardize nascent efforts to resume peace talks.

Syria denounced the project, which aims to bring 900 more Israeli families to the strategic plateau, now home to about 18,000 Israelis.

The plan “blocks the road to any effort or initiative toward achieving a just and comprehensive peace in the region,” a Syrian government spokesman said Wednesday, quoted by the official Syrian Arab News Agency.

Israeli Agriculture Minister Yisrael Katz said the plan, approved by a ministerial committee Tuesday, aimed to underline that the Jewish state regarded the Golan as “an integral part of Israel” before any negotiations with Syria, which demands its return.

An official close to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon denied that the plan was a “political message” to rebuff Syrian President Bashar Assad or affect talks, saying the goal was “agricultural and tourist development.”

In Washington, State Department spokesman Adam Ereli reacted to the decision by saying, “Israel should halt settlement activity.”

“It has been our long-standing policy that there should not be settlement activity in land that the final status of which has not been determined through negotiations,” Ereli said.

In an interview with the New York Times published in December, Assad had urged the U.S. to work for the renewal of peace talks between Israel and Syria.

Syria, still technically at war with Israel, demands the return of the Golan, which Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East War, as part of any peace deal.

In response to Assad’s comments, Sharon said this week that Syria must crack down on terrorist groups operating from its territory and indicated Israel would not agree in principle to give up the Golan prior to any talks, a previous Syrian demand that Assad appeared to have eased away from.

Israeli officials have indicated that they are interested in reopening the peace talks, which broke down in 2000. Media reports also said an Israeli Arab lawmaker from Sharon’s Likud Party was to travel to Syria at Assad’s invitation to discuss the possibility of new talks.

In the West Bank village of Burdus on Wednesday, Israeli forces trying to quell a protest against a barrier Israel is building shot and wounded one Israeli and 10 Palestinians and arrested a Swedish lawmaker and three other foreigners.

Army Radio later said Interior Ministry officials had decided to deport the four foreigners -- a step rarely taken in past protests.

A blast in downtown Tel Aviv on Wednesday was initially reported to be a bombing by Palestinian militants. But police said it was a false alarm, and Israel Radio blamed a blown tire.