Israel has authorized the construction of 1,450 apartments in the West Bank settlement of Adam, Israel Army Radio reported Monday, quoting a court document. The report comes as Defense Minister Ehud Barak is scheduled to meet with US President Barack Obama's special envoy to the Middle East, George Mitchell, in Washington Monday in a bid to iron out the Israeli-US dispute over ongoing Israeli construction on the occupied West Bank, according to a report of the German News Agency "DPA". The construction in Adam, a Jewish settlement north of Jerusalem and south of the West Bank city of Ramallah, was authorized by Barak's Defense Ministry, Army Radio said, as part of a plan to relocate Jewish settlers there from an unauthorized outpost that is to be evacuated. Of the 1,450 homes, the Defense Ministry authorized the immediate construction of 50 apartments to house the settler families from Migron, the largest unauthorized settlers' outpost in the West Bank, reported Army Radio, quoting an update submitted by the Israeli government to the country's supreme court. Barak's meeting with Mitchell comes after a parley between the Obama envoy and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu scheduled to take place in Paris last week was cancelled amid the row over settlements. While Obama is demanding a complete freeze of all Israeli building on the occupied West Bank, the Netanyahu government has insisted on ongoing construction within existing settlements to accommodate for "natural growth." Barak on Sunday would not confirm reports that Israel had decided to temporarily freeze all Israeli building in the West Bank for three months, including for natural growth.
