The first meeting of the day for U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, within a scant few hours of her arrival in Israel, was focused on the issue of Israel’s decision to build a new highway in the “E-1” area of the Jerusalem suburb of Ma’aleh Adumim.
Rice met with Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai on Israel’s appropriation of land in the eastern Jerusalem area in order to build roads to connect Arab communities that would otherwise be cut off from each other by the security barrier. A highway is also planned to create a direct route connecting Ma’aleh Adumin with the capital.
Also on the agenda was an analysis of security threats facing Israel as part of the preparation for next month’s Mideast summit in Annapolis.