Here we go again with more rhetoric about “peace talks.” And as is now quite obviously now a trend, just prior to these so-called “peace talks” an Israeli official reminds the world that West Bank settlement construction will resume.
As usual, the Jews will continue their plans without compromise. After all, one has to remember that they are the “chosen people.” The rest of the world certainly can’t expect this “privileged race” to curtail or surrender their goals for the sake of others who no doubt are unworthy of any consideration.
What a fiasco this whole “Middle East peace” nonsense is. TGO
Refer to story below. Source: Associated Press
JERUSALEM – Israel’s foreign minister said Wednesday that it would be unacceptable to extend a slowdown on West Bank settlement construction, even as Mideast peace talks get under way next week.
Avigdor Lieberman, whose Yisrael Beitenu party is a major partner in the governing coalition, told Israel Radio he realized that resuming settlement construction would antagonize both the U.S. and the Palestinians. But he said that maintaining tight restrictions on building would “punish” tens of thousands of people in the settlements.
“We don’t need to create unnecessary conflicts but we don’t need to punish and we don’t need to fold either,” he said.
Lieberman’s comments added a powerful voice to a debate that is having deep repercussions for the U.S.-backed peace process. A 10-month moratorium on most West Bank construction expires Sept. 26 and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is under heavy domestic pressure to allow its resumption.
Resuming construction in the settlements could spell disaster for the peace talks before they even get off the ground. But leaving the moratorium in place could cause Netanyahu’s hard-line Israeli government to crumble.
Government spokesman, Mark Regev, refused to say what Netanyahu would do after the settlement slowdown expires.
Israeli officials said they hope to reach some sort of arrangement before next week’s summit launching the peace talks in Washington. But an agreement is far from certain. The U.S. is pushing Israel to refrain from any action that could upset the peace talks, and the Palestinians have threatened to walk away from the talks if any settlement activity resumes.
Lieberman suggested that Israel resume construction in major settlement blocs that Israel expects to retain under a future peace deal, while limiting construction elsewhere.
Some 80 percent of the nearly 300,000 West Bank settlers live in these blocs, which are concentrated along the boundary with Israel. Past proposals have suggested that Israel “swap” an equal amount of territory in exchange for the settlements.
After months of shuttle diplomacy, the U.S. announced last week that direct talks between Israelis and Palestinians would resume on Sept. 2 at the White House. The U.S. hopes to forge a final peace settlement within one year.
Lieberman added that he had doubts about the Palestinians’ intentions at the talks.
“They are not coming out of true good will to make peace, they are coming because they were forced to come,” he said. “I think everyone should lower expectations.”
The roughly 120 Jewish settlements that dot the West Bank have long been a sore point in Mideast peacemaking. Israel began settling the territory soon after capturing it along with Gaza and east Jerusalem in the 1967 war.
The Palestinians say the settlements, interspersed among some 2.4 million Palestinians, are gobbling up land they want for a future state. The international community considers them illegal, and President Barack Obama has been an outspoken critic.
Under intense U.S. pressure, Netanyahu imposed the slowdown last November to draw the Palestinians to the negotiating table. The move barred approval of new housing construction, though hundreds of homes already being built were allowed to be completed.
Netanyahu also quietly imposed a similar slowdown in east Jerusalem early this year after a run-in with the U.S. over Israeli policies in the area.
