Levy defends Israel's expanding of its settlements in the Palestinian territories

Israeli Minister of Housing Yitzhak Levy has defended the decision taken by his ministry to build some 500 Israeli settlement units to expand two settlements in the Palestinian territories. He indicated that Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak had known the details of this issue before they were taken in his capacity "also as a minister of defense."

In a statement he made on Sunday, quoted by the Israeli Radio, Levy refused calls on the need to inform the Israeli Cabinet of each step in building the settlement units.

For his part, Barak's senior advisor for political and military affair, Danny Yatoum, expressed hope that the decision taken to build the new settlements units will not obstruct the current negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian government.