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Israel Prepares to Build More Settlements | ||||||||||
2016-12-28 | ||||||||||
Just a few days after the United Nations Security Council voted to condemn Israeli settlements,
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has lashed out at Security Council countries by curbing diplomatic contacts, recalling envoys, cutting off aid and summoning the American ambassador for a scolding. He canceled a planned visit this week by Ukraine’s prime minister even as he expressed concern on Monday that Mr. Obama was planning more action at the United Nations before his term ends next month. The prime minister defended his retaliation. “Israel is a country with national pride, and we do not turn the other cheek,” he said.
The Security Council resolution that passed Friday condemned Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem as a “flagrant violation under international law” and an obstacle to peace. The Council approved it 14 to 0, with the United States abstaining instead of using its unilateral veto, as it has in the past.
Palestinian leaders made clear that they would use the resolution in international bodies to press their case against Israel. With the imprimatur of a United Nations finding of illegality, they said, they will campaign to require that other countries not just label products made in the settlements, but ban them. “Now we can talk about the boycott of all settlements, the companies that work with them, et cetera, and actually take legal action against them if they continue to work with them,” Riad Malki, the Palestinian foreign minister, was quoted as saying by the Palestinian news media.
“We are looking to devise a comprehensive vision, and hopefully 2017 will be the year when the Israeli occupation ends,” Mr. Malki said. Israeli officials said such pronouncements showed that the resolution actually undermined chances for a negotiated settlement because the Palestinians now have less incentive to come to the table. By declaring Israeli settlements illegal, they said, the United Nations essentially took away the one chip that Israel had to trade, meaning land.
“I won’t get worked up over the U.N. or any other organization that might try to dictate to us what to do in Jerusalem,” Deputy Mayor Meir Turgeman, the planning committee chairman, told the newspaper Israel Hayom. “I hope that the government and the new administration in the United States will give us momentum to continue.” Although he did not specify which projects he had in mind, Ir Amim, a private group tracking settlements in East Jerusalem, said he was probably referring to projects in Gilo and Givat Hamatos. Betty Herschman, the group’s director of international relations and advocacy, said it was “defiance demonstrated after Trump’s election, now reinforced by the U.N. resolution.” Anat Ben Nun, the director of development and external relations for Peace Now, said such construction was problematic. “Netanyahu’s attempt to avenge the U.N.S.C. resolution through approval of plans beyond the Green Line will only harm Israelis and Palestinians by making it more difficult to arrive at a two-state solution,” she said. Israeli leaders said they had no reason to stop building. The Security Council resolution “was absurd and totally removed from reality,” said Oded Revivi, chief foreign envoy for the Yesha Council, which represents West Bank settlers. “Israeli building policies are set in Jerusalem, not New York.” For the fourth day, Israeli officials accused Mr. Obama’s team of ambushing them at the United Nations. While the White House denied it, Israeli officials pointed to a meeting between Secretary of State John Kerry and his New Zealand counterpart a month before the Council vote discussing a resolution on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. New Zealand was a sponsor of Friday’s measure. Mr. Dermer, the ambassador, said Israel had other, nonpublic information proving the Obama administration’s involvement but provided no evidence and would not elaborate beyond saying it would be provided to Mr. Trump’s team when he takes office. “They not only did not get up and stop it, they were behind it from the beginning,” Mr. Dermer said. “This is why the prime minister is so angry. We’re going to stand up against it.” The fury of Mr. Netanyahu’s response has generated debate at home. Mitchell Barak, a political consultant, said the political left considered the resolution “an epic foreign policy and diplomatic debacle” by Mr. Netanyahu. But to his base, the Security Council action confirmed what they believed all along, that Mr. Obama is inherently anti-Israel, and so the prime minister comes across as a champion beset by enemies. “For them,” Mr. Barak said, “Netanyahu emerges from this unscathed, as the lone wolf in a lion’s den of hatred.” | ||||||||||
Posted by:Steve White |
#4 BHO has (had?) 50% of the US Population in his corner That's certainly how he polled. But when you know that saying anything against him will be greeted with cries of "Racist!", that result is to be expected. On the other hand, his signature programs are strongly disliked -- it seems likely those who loathe his programs do not love the man. |
Posted by: trailing wife 2016-12-28 14:03 |
#3 Good on them, but sorry UMcG2270, the weasel will not be gone, just acting out in a different capacity. BHO has (had?) 50% of the US Population in his corner, and his pulling of the aggrievement levers will be non-stop until (?). DJT has a very narrow window through which to bring the donks, kicking and screaming, around. The 2016 election is not over; there is more havoc to wreak. |
Posted by: Vast Right Wing Conspiracy 2016-12-28 09:17 |
#2 Settlements WORK Worked across North and South America. Worked in Europe too for the Romans, till outsiders decided to play the same game on Rome (now being repeated by Muslims). |
Posted by: Procopius2k 2016-12-28 08:08 |
#1 Trump will take Office in about another three weeks and some. The weasel will be gone. Israel can hold out until them and for the Palestinians....the goat and a small closet. Settlements WORK. Keep them up, and keep it coming. The Palestinians know they work and that is why they are squealing. Roll on.... The UN? Screw the UN. Move to Brussels. Or Jimbobway.Whichever. |
Posted by: Uniter McGurque2270 2016-12-28 04:20 |