On the new Israeli settlements in the Golan

The director general of the Israeli prime minister's office, Yossi Kuchik, said that 18,000 settlers are now in the Golan, adding that from "now on the lives of those settlers cannot be stopped nor put in a refrigerator until the completion of negotiations with Syria."

In a statement with the Israeli Radio on Wednesday morning in remarks on his consent for the Israeli settlers in the Golan to build tens of houses, he said, "There is no one here (in Israel) who has the intention to stop the flow of natural life of those settlers with the beginning of negotiations with Syria."

He explained that his consent to building tens of houses in the Golan has no impact on the negotiations, which will be resumed next week in Washington between the Syrian delegation, or on border demarcation between Syria and Israel.

He remarked that in the negotiations with the Palestinians, it was agreed to freeze the settlements, but for Syria, "We are still at the beginning, and the matter is connected to building tens of housing units which will have no impact on the course of the negotiations with Syria."

Meanwhile, Israeli Minister of Finance Avraham Shochat has stated that responding to demands by Israeli religious Shas movement is a guarantee to ensure the backing of the movement for a future peace agreement with Syria, when such an agreement is debated in the Knesset and submitted for a public referendum.

For his part, Israeli Minister of Health Shlomo Ben Ami said in statements quoted by Israeli Radio on Wednesday, "We authorize Prime Minister Ehud Barak to make negotiations with Syria and to reach an agreement, and then Rabbi Youssef, the spiritual leader of the Shas movement will decide whether this movement will back the agreement with Syria."