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Journalism of Courage
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Monday, one day after she promised a bigger American push for a Palestinian state.
Rice is pressing Olmert to take steps that could help bolster Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah in his power struggle with Hamas Islamists who control the government.
But just as Rice’s meeting with Olmert was getting under way, Haaretz newspaper reported that Israel planned to build 44 residential units in Maale Adumim, Israel’s largest settlement, on the outskirts of Jerusalem.
The US-backed “road map” peace plan calls for halting such construction on land Palestinians seek for a state. Israel asserts that such construction is part of natural growth. Under US pressure, Olmert held his first formal meeting with Abbas on December 23.
