Barak: More building during Olmert's term didn't impede talks

Israel is not building new settlements, Defense Minister Ehud Barak said to reporters after meeting UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in New York. He said Israel is committed to the Road Map and the two-state solution, noting that during former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's term, there was twice as much construction as during the present period, and it did not impede progress in peace talks.

Barak also claimed that during his own term there was four times as much construction while Israel was in negotiation with the late Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat. (Yitzhak Benhorin)