Bush: Israel settlement expansion "impediment"

Source: Reuters

<snip>

"President George W. Bush on Thursday called Israeli settlement expansion an "impediment" to the success of revived peace efforts and urged the Jewish state to follow through on its pledge to dismantle unauthorized settler outposts.

Speaking less than a week before his first presidential visit to Israel and the West Bank, Bush voiced optimism at the prospects for securing an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal by the end of 2008, a goal set at last November's Annapolis conference that has been viewed with some skepticism.

Bush said he would use his trip to keep up pressure on both sides, including making clear to Israelis his concern about continued Jewish settlement activity.

"I will talk about Israeli settlement expansion, about how that is, that can be, you know, an impediment to success," he told Reuters in an interview. "The unauthorized outposts for example need to be dismantled, like the Israelis said they would do."



Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSWAT00861920080103