One Step Back in the Mideast

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Maybe Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel doesn't quite get it yet, but this new era of hope in the Middle East means he needs to restrain his instincts for settlement building. On Monday, Israel publicly confirmed plans to expand the already large settlement a few miles east of Jerusalem called Maale Adumim. In a community already housing 30,000 residents - not to mention a Blockbuster Video, Ace Hardware and other shops - Israel plans to build an additional 3,500 new housing units. The Palestinians have rightly criticized this as a major obstacle to ever resolving one of the most emotional and intractable issues between the two: the final borders of Israel and eventually Palestine, and the dividing up of Jerusalem... Israel can't simply exchange Gaza for more settlements in the West Bank. There is no realistic substitute for a negotiated resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian dispute, and such a pact will never happen without Israeli withdrawal of most of its settlements. That's withdrawal, not expansion. The Maale Adumim expansion is also a slap in the face of the new Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas. Mr. Abbas, at his own political peril, has gone further in three months toward making peace with Israel than Yasir Arafat ever did. But the Palestinian people must have confidence that their new leader can eventually get them a fair deal; that their growing willingness to lay down their arms will one day win for them an independent Palestine with enough land in the West Bank and Gaza to make a viable country. How is Mr. Abbas supposed to make that case when Mr. Sharon is building more settlements?