Israel gives go-ahead to brand-new settlement
Palestinians seethe as move breaks 20-year practice on occupied land
PALESTINIANS reacted angrily after the Israeli cabinet approved the building of the first officially sanctioned new settlement on land the Palestinians seek for a state in the occupied West Bank.
The security cabinet gave its unanimous backing to the new settlement late this week as what is widely seen as the most right-wing government in Israeli history presses ahead with settlement expansion in defiance of international criticism.
The move showed “blatant disregard for Palestinian human rights”, Palestinian official Hanan Ashrawi said. “Israel is more committed to appeasing its illegal settler population than to abiding by the requirements for stability and a just peace.”
The new settlement will be constructed near the former wildcat Jewish outpost known as Amona, which was razed in February in accordance with an Israeli high court order. It will be the first entirely new settlement that an Israeli government has approved in more than 20 years.
In recent years, construction had focused on expanding settlements.
The international community regards all Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories as illegal and the biggest obstacle to Middle East peace, and the administration of former US president Barack Obama had put up serious opposition to their expansion.
But right-wing Israeli leaders have been emboldened by US President Donald Trump’s less critical stance.
The anti-settlement NGO Peace Now said the new settlement showed the government was leading Israelis and Palestinians towards “apartheid”.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been in discussions with the Trump administration on further settlement construction.
Trump has pledged unstinting support for Israel, but has also urged Netanyahu to “hold back on settlements for a little bit” while his administration looks for ways to restart Israeli-Palestinian talks.
UN secretary-general António Guterres said he was disappointed and alarmed by Israel’s decision to build the new settlement. “He condemns all unilateral actions that, like the present one, threaten peace and undermine the two-state solution,” a spokesman said.
The White House appeared more accommodating to Israel’s plans for the new settlement, intended for 40 families evicted from Amona.
A White House official noted that Netanyahu had made a commitment to the Amona settlers before Trump and the Israeli leader agreed to work on limiting settlement activity.
Trump, widely seen in Israel as sympathetic towards settlements, appeared to surprise Netanyahu during a White House visit in February, when he urged him to “hold back on settlements for a little bit”. The two then agreed that their aides would try to work out a compromise.
Palestinians want the West Bank and East Jerusalem for their own state, along with the Gaza Strip.
Israel cites biblical and historical ties to the land it captured in the 1967 war, as well as security concerns.
The UN Security Council adopted a resolution in December demanding a halt to settlement building, after the Obama administration abstained from the vote instead of vetoing it.
Sweden’s UN ambassador, Olof Skoog, a member of the Security Council, said it should respond to the Israeli move. —