WikiLeaks: Israel NGO Pressured U.S. To Force Settlement Evacuations

By Ofer Aderet (Haaretz Service) April 7, 2011

Israeli left-wing non-government organization Peace Now has urged the U.S. to pressure Israel into evacuating West Bank outposts, according to an American diplomatic cable released by WikiLeaks, adding that the group regularly updated both Washington and the Defense Ministry on ongoing settlement construction.

A 2006 U.S. diplomatic cable quoted Peace Now head Yariv Oppenheimer as telling U.S. embassy officials that Israel may “evacuate a few outposts to show the U.S. that it is doing something, but in exchange it is trying to co-opt the settlers by retroactively approving some outposts and giving them a freer hand in building in the West Bank.”

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