TEL AVIV, December 18, 2005 (WAFA)- The Israeli Peace Now Movement said that unilateral acts by Israel that impose an arrangement on the Palestinians are antithetical to the development of a stable, viable Palestinian state and undermine the legitimacy of moderate, pro-peace Palestinian leaders and empower radicals.

In a study, conducted by Dror Etkes, Settlements Watch Director, Peace Now (Israel), and Lara Friedman, Government Relations Director, Americans for Peace Now, it said that the recent results published by Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) indicate that the colonies construction during the first half of 2005 was greater than during the same period in 2004.

It added that between January and June 2005, there were 1097 new housing starts, compared to 860 housing starts between January and June 2004 (an increase of 28%), while at the end of June 2004 there were 3984 housing units under construction, while at the end of June 2005 there were 4207 units under construction (an increase of 6%).

The results showed that the current construction in colonies (around 90%) is taking place in the main colonies blocs that located on the western side of the approved route of the Wall. These areas are close to the 1967 borders or Jerusalem.

Peace Now quoted a study, by B'tselem (Israel's preeminent human rights organization) and Bimkom (a highly respected organization of Israeli planners and architects who believe that planning is essentially a political tool), as saying that "the currently approved route of the Barrier (Wall) leaves fifty-five settlements (colonies), twelve of them in East Jerusalem, separated from the rest of the West Bank and contiguous with the State of Israel".

"And the map of the route indicates that in most of the cases, the Barrier's route (Wall) was set hundreds, and even thousands, of meters from the houses at the edge of the colony. The route of the Wall running near each of the twelve coloies discussed in the report more or less follows the borders of the outline development plan for the particular colony, making it impossible to argue there is no connection between the route and the plan. Thus it is clear that contrary to the picture portrayed by the state, the colony-expansion plans played a substantial role in the planning of the Wall's route," it added.

Most construction in West Bank settlements (colonies) - past and present - is initiated by the government of Israel. This is in contrast to construction inside the 1967 borders, which is mostly private. In 2004, for example, construction in the West Bank was 66% public versus 34% private, inside Israel construction for that same period was 23% public and 74% private', the study conluded.

M.H.(14:20P )(12:20GMT)