Israeli cabinet extends 'security fence'

Ariel Sharon's cabinet has agreed to extend Israel's controversial "security fence" to encircle Jewish settlements deep in the West Bank, moving closer to formally annexing hundreds of square miles of Palestinian territory.

But under pressure from Washington, the government said it would leave gaps in the fence where it would link the settlements of Ariel and its satellites to the main barrier that Mr Sharon envisages will eventually encircle the bulk of the Palestinian population.

Palestinians condemned the decision. They claimed that the barrier, which is mostly fence but includes sections of wall nine metres high, would wreck the possibility of creating a viable Palestinian state.

Saeb Erekat, the Palestinian chief negotiator, said: "This is an attempt to sabotage the peace process, because it kills the United States president's vision of a two state solution. This is not a security fence, this is the biggest land grab by Israel. This does not separate Israelis from Palestinians; it separates Palestinians from Palestinians."

Earlier this week, Mr Sharon made clear that he intended to ensure that Ariel was part of Israel under a final agreement with the Palestinians, even though a senior US state department official, William Burns, warned that continued expansion of the settlements "could threaten the future of Israel as a Jewish democracy".

The Israeli cabinet yesterday agreed to build two sections of fence around the settlements of Ariel and Kedumim, up to 13.5 miles into the occupied territories at a point where the West Bank is only 33 miles wide.

But because of American pressure, the government will, for now, leave an extensive gap between the barrier around the settlements and the main fence closer to the 1967 border.

If the barrier intrudes too deeply into Palestinian territory, the US has threatened to deduct the cost of constructing the fence from the £5.4bn ($9bn) in loan guarantees that Israel badly needs to prop up its ailing economy.

Most members of the cabinet wanted to include Ariel, the largest settlement outside east Jerusalem with 21,000 residents, on the Israeli side of the fence, but Mr Sharon told his ministers that they should agree to the gaps, so as not to offend Washington. The two governments will discuss the issue again in eight months time, when some Israeli officials believe President George Bush will be preoccupied with re-election.

Several ministers dissented, however, including Effi Eitam of the National Religious party, who was in unusual agreement with the Palestinians in seeing the fence as establishing borders. Mr Eitam would prefer Israel to annex the entire West Bank.

Mr Erekat said he took no comfort from the cabinet decision to leave gaps in the fence.

"This is a $1.2bn (£700m) fence. This is there to stay. It's there for future generations. It's the biggest failure of US policy," he said.

A spokesman for the Israeli human rights organisation B'Tselem said: "Israel has the right to take measures necessary to defend its citizens. However, the minister of defence and the prime minister are manipulating the public's fear of suicide attacks in order to obtain political objectives under the guise of security and defence arguments."

Israel has already completed 97 miles of the fence through the north-western part of the West Bank, and is rapidly building a 29-mile barrier in and around Jerusalem.

The Bush administration is sending a team to assess whether this is justified from Washington's perspective.