The red herring of the new Israeli settlements...

A couple of weeks ago, I blogged about the proposed new housing outside of Jerusalem. I wrote that this did not jeopardize the peace process because this settlement was part of a block that was always going to remain with Israel. Now, the New York Times agrees:

But the Maale Adumim issue is something of a red herring, American and Israeli officials agree. There are no plans to break ground for new units for at least three years, and the existing Maale Adumim, a community of some 30,000 people, will almost surely be kept by Israel, with American support, in return for modest land transfers elsewhere.