This cycle has become so bizarre and confusing that Palestinians are not sure whether they should hope for continued tensions with Israel (which usually means no new settlements) or for continued negotiations (which usually provide cover for building settlements). On January 5, 2007, the day Prime Minister Ehud Olmert met with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to discuss a new round of talks, the Israeli Construction and Housing Ministry issued a tender for the construction of more units in Ma’ale Adumim, an exclusively Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank.
这个怪异的循环模式如此令人迷惑，使得巴勒斯坦人都已经不敢确定，他们究竟是应该祈祷同以色列的持续紧张态势呢（这经常意味着没有新的定居点形成），还是应该期待新一轮的协商（而这却经常为建立新犹太人定居点提供了掩护）。2007年1月5日，就在以色列总理奥尔默特同美国时任国务卿赖斯会面，商讨新一轮和平谈判的同一天，以色列住房和建设部发出了一个决定，要在Ma'ale Adumim，这个分布在约旦河西岸占领区内的犹太人专属定居点上兴建更多的居住单元，