U.S. ambassador to Israel Dan Kurtzer on Friday reiterated Washington's support for Israel retaining large West Bank settlement blocs and denied a report he had stated no such commitment existed. Kurtzer reiterated President George W. Bush's position that it is unrealistic to expect a full Israeli withdrawal from the occupied West Bank under any future peace deal with the Palestinians. Kurtzer made the comments to Israeli radio and television in a denial of an Israeli newspaper report quoting him as saying there was no such understanding between the two countries. He said he telephoned Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to assure him Washington stood by Bush's pledge to Sharon in April that Israel should be able to keep some of the Arab land it captured in the 1967 Middle East war. "U.S. policy is the support that the president has given for the retention by Israel of major Israeli population centres as an outcome of negotiations," Kurtzer said. "It is very, very clear to both the U.S. and Israel what this means." --More 2202 Local Time 1902 GMT
