Approval for the first community in a decade to be built on post-1967 lands has touched off a furor of protest against Israel. Defense Minister Amir Peretz reaffirmed the consent his predecessor had granted to construct Maskiot on what was an Israeli military base in the northern Jordan Valley. Its residents will be Israelis who were forced to abandon their homes when Israel unilaterally withdrew from the Gaza Strip in 2005. Construction of only 30 privately financed homes was approved. As is the usual procedure in Israel, residents of the new community will move into trailers while permanent homes are being built. American officials expressed concerns over the approval for the new community since Israeli officials had promised they would not permit any new ones to be built. But the Israelis are apparently banking on the fact that the location is an old army base and therefore does not violate Israel’s promise to the U.S. not to build on new sites.