January 4, 2008 (LPAC) - In a step forward in the Annapolis process, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert admitted, apparently for the first time, that Israel has not honored its commitments to stop expansion of Jewish settlements in the West Bank. "There is a certain contradiction in this, between what we're actually seeing and what we ourselves promised," he said in an interview with the Jerusalem Post. "Obligations are not only to be demanded of others, but they must also be honored by ourselves. So there is a certain problem here."

Olmert's remarks followed, perhaps only by hours, comments by President Bush on Thursday that settlement expansion is "an impediment to the peace process." He said in an interview with Reuters that "The unauthorized outposts for example need to be dismantled, like the Israelis said they would do." Israeli Vice Prime Minister Haim Ramon also said, on Friday, that Israel would soon begin to dismantle about two dozen illegal outposts.

On December 31, 2007 Olmert had ordered that his and the defense minister's authorization would be required for any new building, planning or land expropriation for settlements in the West Bank.