Israel fends off criticism of settlement expansion

JERUSALEM – Israel yesterday defended its move to build hundreds of new homes in annexed Arab east Jerusalem amid warnings that it was undermining US-led efforts to relaunch Middle East peace talks.

US President Barack Obama warned that new settlement construction ’embitters the Palestinians in a way that could end up being very dangerous.’’I think that additional settlement building does not contribute to Israel’s security. I think it makes it harder for them to make peace with their neighbours,’ Obama said in an interview with Fox News.Interior Minister Eli Yishai defended his ministry’s decision the previous day to approve the construction of 900 new housing units in east Jerusalem, which Israel considers an integral part of its capital and the Palestinians want to make the capital of their promised state.’Freezing construction in Gilo is just like freezing construction… in any other neighbourhood in Jerusalem and Israel,’ Yishai told AFP. ‘Construction in Jerusalem cannot be halted, and Gilo is in Jerusalem.’Gilo is one of a dozen Jewish settlements in the eastern part of the Holy City, which Israel has annexed in a move not recognised by the international community.The move to expand it is likely to further hamper Washington’s so-far futile efforts to get Israel and the Palestinians to restart their peace talks, which were suspended during the Gaza war at the turn of the year.In another move likely to exacerbate tensions, Israel demolished an illegally built house in east Jerusalem. Palestinians often build in east Jerusalem without permits because these are nearly impossible to get.The European Union, France and Saudi Arabia added their voice to the chorus of criticism of the decision to expand Gilo, a move that flew in the face of Palestinian calls for a complete freeze on all settlement activity for peace talks to resume.The EU presidency said it was ‘dismayed’ by the decision and stressed that ‘settlement activities, house demolitions and evictions in east Jerusalem are illegal under international law.’French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, who was holding talks with Israeli leaders in Jerusalem on Wednesday said: ‘It is a decision that we regret.’A spokesman for Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry branded the move as ‘a major obstacle in the way of the peace process. Unless there are decisive measures taken in regard to these policies, it is too difficult to advance the peace process.’Washington had earlier said it was ‘dismayed’ at the decision.’At a time when we are working to relaunch negotiations, these actions make it more difficult for our efforts to succeed,’ said White House spokesman Robert Gibbs.Israeli news reports said that Netanyahu had rejected a request from his US ally to halt construction in Gilo, but it was not clear whether the request concerned the project approved on Tuesday.UN chief Ban Ki-moon also slammed the move, saying it ‘undermined efforts for peace and cast doubt on the viability of the two-state solution’ and Britain called the decision ‘wrong’.The Palestinians lashed out at the decision, with chief negotiator Saeb Erakat saying: ‘Israel continues to undermine the very credibility to the Middle East peace process, making a mockery of existing agreements and sabotaging all prospects for a return to genuine negotiations.’’Settlements must be stopped, that is the only way back to a real peace process,’ he added.Israel captured east Jerusalem during the 1967 Six Day War and later annexed it in a move not recognised by the international community. It views the entire Holy City as its ‘eternal, indivisible’ capital and does not consider Jewish neighbourhoods in the eastern part as settlements.Underscoring the tensions surrounding the issue, a group of visiting US Jews on Wednesday laid a symbolic cornerstone of a new Jewish neighbourhood in east Jerusalem.’I’m sending a message to (US) President (Barack) Obama – leave Jerusalem alone,’ Danny Danon, an MP with Netanyahu’s Likud faction, said at the ceremony. ‘Jerusalem belongs to the Jewish people and we have the right to build here.’- Nampa-AFP