Report on Israeli Settlement in the Occupied Territories

The September visit of U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright to the Middle East reinvigorated efforts to formally resume Israeli-Palestinian negotiations and offered the Clinton administration an opportunity to highlight its support for an undefined "time-out" in Israel's expansion of settlements.

On September 2, Israel's ministerial committee on economic matters approved a new map outlining regions of national priority. The map, whose outlines were announced earlier this year, replaces one approved by the government of Yitzhak Rabin.

The struggle for Palestine has always been a contest for control of the land. Few have observed Israel's evolving land policies in the occupied territories with the skill and attention of Palestinian attorney Raja Shehadeh.

The following excerpt is from an interview with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Israel Television Channel 1 Network, September 26, 1997.