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Israeli Settlers reject Obama's Plan ( photo-Les Blough-Axisoflogic.com)
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Jewish settler leaders on Tuesday shrugged off President Barack Obama’s call for Israel to halt settlement building in the occupied West Bank, saying Palestinians needed to “halt terror first.”
Dani Dayan, chairman of the West Bank settlers’ umbrella organization Yesha Council, said he felt assured that domestic political support would allow settlers to continue to live in the occupied West Bank.
“The Israeli electorate set a clear line for this government … we have strong support in the new Knesset (parliament) and the things we hear among politicians certainly encourage us that if Netanyahu (halts settlement building) the Knesset will stand at our side,” Dayan told Reuters.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met Obama for talks at the White House on Monday and the U.S. president afterwards reminded Israel of its commitment under a 2003 U.S.-backed peace “road map” to stop settlement building in the occupied West Bank.
“Obama’s words were factually incorrect,” Dayan said. He relied on the road map, but it does not impose on Israel to halt building in Judea and Samaria (the West Bank), because the Palestinians do not carry out their commitment, which comes beforehand, to stop terror.”
About half a million Jews live in more than 100 settlements Israel has built on land Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war in the West Bank and Arab East Jerusalem , territory in which close to three million Palestinians live.
The United States and the European Union view all Jewish settlements in the West Bank as illegal under international law and as obstacles to peace.
HOMELAND
Political commentators in the Israeli media on Tuesday said Netanyahu would have to avoid conflict with his coalition partners, most of whom are right-wing parties, in order to keep his potentially fractious coalition intact.
Israeli columnist Nahum Barnea said in the mass-circulation Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper that Netanyahu could argue that he is powerless to halt Israel’s settlement activity.
“We will continue to squabble with the (U.S.) administration on the issue of settlements,” Barnea wrote.
“All administrations were unhappy with Israel on this issue but the Obama administration differs from its predecessors only in that it sees the matter as the real problem. Netanyahu’s only argument against this is that if he freezes (settlement building) he will be toppled.”
Pinhas Wallerstein, another settler leader, said Israel would have to listen to American wishes but would also need to consider the needs of settlers.
“We won’t have a choice but to take into account American wishes because they are our friends,” he said.
A dispute with the United State would be serious for Israel “but they will also have to consider Israeli wishes … we don’t have to be ‘in your face’ and provoke them but we have to carry on our daily lives,” Wallerstein told Army Radio.
Obama again voiced strong support for creation of a Palestinian state in his talks with Netanyahu, who held back from endorsing this cornerstone of Washington’s Mideast policy.
“We talked about restarting serious negotiations on issues of Israel and the Palestinians,” Obama said, adding that it was in both sides’ interests “to achieve a two-state solution.”
Netanyahu, whose right-leaning coalition includes parties opposed to a two-state solution, has not publicly endorsed the creation of a Palestinian state.
Since he was sworn in on March 31, Netanyahu has promised to pursue talks with the Palestinians on an economic, security and political track. He says any Palestinian entity must have limited powers of sovereignty and no army.
Senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said moving the Middle East peace process forward hinged on Israel implementing its obligations under existing agreements.
“Only a reversal in Israel’s policies on the ground can restore credibility to the peace process. This includes an immediate and complete freeze on all settlement activity, including all natural growth,” Erekat said.
But hardline settler leader Nadia Mattar said Jewish settlers would never agree to a freeze.
“Nobody can freeze a people who live in their homeland. This is our homeland. Nobody’s going to tell us not to live here. Nobody’s going to tell us not to expand here,” Matar said in the West Bank settlement of Efrat.
(Editing by Douglas Hamilton and Samia Nakhoul)
May 20, 2009 Posted by Elias
US ups pressure for halt to Jewish settlements!
WASHINGTON (AFP) — The United States Tuesday stepped up pressure on visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to halt Jewish settlements as a step towards reviving the peace process with the Palestinians.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton used a press conference to drive home the US position on the settlements, and the issue was raised directly with Netanyahu by Senator John Kerry during a visit to the US Congress.
“The president (Barack Obama) was very clear yesterday in his statement that he wants to see a stop to the settlements,” Clinton told reporters.
“I hosted a dinner for Prime Minister Netanyahu later in the day at the State Department and we reiterated that that is the position and policy of the United States government.”
She added the United States is “committed to a two-state solution and obviously underlying that commitment is the conviction that the Palestinians deserve a viable state.
“And therefore nothing should be done to undermine the potential resolution of the peace effort that could prevent such a two-state solution from taking hold.”
After meeting with Kerry, Netanyahu said he wanted to renew the Palestinian peace process “immediately,” in tandem with an effort to gain backing from Arab states for efforts to counter Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
“We have a unique historical circumstance in that Israel and many of our Arab neighbors understand the threat posed by Iran’s quest to develop nuclear weapons capabilities,” Netanyahu said.
“We intend to pursue the peace track independently of what happens in Iran, but in point of fact … it should be done in parallel,” he said.
Kerry, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said he was encouraged by the meeting but directly raised the issue of Jewish settlements with Netanyahu.
“I reemphasized to the prime minister the importance of Israel moving forward especially in respect to the settlements issue,” Kerry said with Netanyahu at his side.
“We also emphasized that this is not a one way street and the burden is not only on Israel to take all the steps,” he said.
He said it was vital that the Arab world also “takes steps to indicate its willingness to contribute to the progress on the road towards peace.”
The Israeli prime minister made the rounds of Congress a day after a White House meeting with Obama in which the two appeared at odds in their approaches to Iran and the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
However, Netanyahu told Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Republican House Minority Leader John Boehner he saw “an American consensus” regarding “the special relationship we have between Israel and the United States.”
“We face opportunities and challenge. The challenge is the potential arming of Iran with nuclear weapons capabilities. That is a great danger to all of us,” warned Netanyahu.
The prime minister said he would pursue “the advancement of peace between us and the Palestinians” — omitting talk of a Palestinian state — as well as normal relations with the broader Arab world.
Pelosi and Boehner, divided over major issues of domestic policy and bitter foes in the dispute over alleged US torture, underlined the consensus in the Congress over the need to keep Iran from getting nuclear weapons.
“The question of Iran is one that is of concern to us in Congress,” said Pelosi. “It is an issue for the world. It is important for all of us to work together to be sure that Iran does not develop a weapon of mass destruction.”
Boehner said that “what happens with regard to dealing with the Palestinians is of concern to all of us. And I think we share, as the speaker said, a mutual concern about the development of nuclear weapons in Israel — I mean in Iran.
“We have no closer ally and friend anywhere in the world than the state of Israel,” he added.
Source: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jYNu5CtPyxmHbTxilw9JcXDEMffA
May 19, 2009 Posted by Elias
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