Jan 1, 2003 By Laurie Copans Associated Press Writer 4 min read

JERUSALEM (AP) – Israel approved a plan to spend at least $56 million to expand settlements on the occupied Golan Heights, prompting accusations from Syria on Wednesday that Israel was wrecking peace efforts. The plan could threaten a tentative effort to resume peace talks between the two countries. The expansion decision came as a member of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s Likud Party was reportedly preparing to travel to Damascus to look into President Bashar Assad’s recent call for new negotiations.

Hard-line Agriculture Minister Yisrael Katz, who initiated the expansion, said he aimed to make it more difficult for any Israeli government to return the strategic plateau to Syria – Damascus’ top demand for a peace deal.

The plan aims to draw around 900 more families to the Golan, where 18,000 Israelis currently live in settlements built since Israel seized the strategic plateau from Syria in 1967.

But other members of Sharon’s government insisted the plan did not have any political significance. Sharon hopes to resume peace talks with Syria, a high-ranking Israeli official told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity, adding that Sharon regretted Katz’s comments.

Several officials told Israeli media Wednesday the expansion plan was set in October, before Assad initiated his offer in a New York Times interview in mid-December.

Syria denounced the expansion plan, calling it a “flagrant expression of (Israel’s) opposition to peace.” But it did not say outright how it affects Assad’s offer to resume peace talks.

The plan “blocks the road to any effort or initiative toward achieving a just and comprehensive peace in the region,” a Syrian government spokesman said Wednesday, quoted by the official Syrian Arab News Agency.

“Israel says it wants peace negotiations with Syria. What kind of negotiations? Can such actions and intentions stem from a country that wants or works for peace?” Suleiman Haddad, who chairs the foreign relations committee in the Syrian parliament, told AP.

In response to Assad’s offer, Sharon said this week that Syria must crack down on terror groups operating from its territory. Islamic Jihad and Hamas are among the groups that have offices in Damascus.

Sharon also indicated that Israel would not comply with any Syrian condition that Israel agree in principle to give up the Golan – captured from Syria in 1967 – prior to the opening of talks between the bitter enemies. Israel has annexed the Golan, though no country recognizes its rule there.

Sharon’s predecessor, Ehud Barak, came close to returning the area in peace talks in 2000 but the two sides couldn’t agree on the final details.

Katz called Assad an “archterrorist” and said the plan had been developed in light of Assad’s offer for the renewal of talks.

“There is no dialogue with the Syrians,” Katz told Israel Radio. “This is an Israeli decision that the Golan Heights is an integral part of the state of Israel, and we don’t have any intention of giving up our hold.”

Eli Malka, chairman of the Golan Settlers’ Council, said the plan was designed to develop the economy in the 625-square-mile Golan Heights and expand tourism projects to better take advantage of some 2.5 million people who visit the Golan each year.

Sharon adviser Dore Gold told Israel Radio that the settlement expansion plan did not influence any “opportunities we may have for regional peace.”

Majli Wehbeh, the Likud lawmaker traveling to Damascus, told the Lebanese daily Al Balad that he would accept Assad’s invitation, the newspaper reported Wednesday. Wehbeh is Druze, an offshoot of Islam that has a large community in Syria.

When interviewed by The Associated Press, Wehbeh would not give details, only saying he would travel to Egypt. Al Balad reported he would travel from Egypt to Damascus, where he would meet with Walid Al Mouallam, Syria’s former representative at the United Nations.

Israeli officials and experts have said they believe Assad’s offer is serious, because he has been pushed to a corner by the U.S. war in Iraq and threats of sanctions if Syria does not crack down on militant groups operating from its territory.