Israel announced on Wednesday it was limiting settlement construction for 10 months to try to revive peace negotiations with the Palestinians, who said the step fell short of their terms for talks.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the move, which was immediately welcomed by ally the US, a major step toward peace.
But his plan excluded areas of the West Bank that Israel annexed to its Jerusalem municipality after the 1967 war and building projects already under way — falling short of the full freeze demanded by Palestinians.
In an address to the nation, Netanyahu assured Israelis that building would begin again but he urged Palestinian leaders to respond to his gesture.
He then repeated nearly the entire prime time address in English, describing steps Israel says it has taken to improve living conditions for Palestinians in the West Bank, presumably speaking to an international audience.
“Israel today has taken a far-reaching step toward peace,” he said. “It’s time for the Palestinians to do the same.”
However, Nabil Abu Rdainah, a spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said: “Any return to negotiations must be on the basis of a complete settlement freeze, and in Jerusalem foremost.”
The policy means there will be no new residential building permits issued for 10 months and that no new house building can start in that time in “Judea and Samaria,” Israel’s terms for the West Bank excluding annexed areas around Jerusalem.
Israel’s anti-settlement Peace Now group praised the decision as “historic.”
By imposing the construction limits, Netanyahu could hope to ease international pressure on Israel and win explicit US backing, while putting the onus on the Palestinians to return to negotiations without preconditions as Washington has urged.
Within moments of his speech, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and President Barack Obama’s special Middle East envoy George Mitchell welcomed the Israeli move. They have been urging Abbas to renew talks without conditions.
Mitchell said Washington still did not accept the legitimacy of settlements but said the Israeli move could have a “substantial impact” on efforts to resolve the conflict.
Clinton said the Israeli decision “helps move forward” efforts to resolve the decades-old conflict.
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said in a statement he hoped settler leaders would view the partial freeze in the context of ensuring good relations with the US, citing the need to maintain Israel’s military superiority in the region.
Netanyahu has rejected a complete halt to construction in settlements, saying “natural growth” of settler families must be accommodated.
His governing coalition, which includes pro-settlement parties, did not appear to be in immediate danger of collapse after the security Cabinet ratification.
Netanyahu has said the building of some 3,000 homes for Jews in the West Bank that were either under construction or about to be built would go ahead. Last week, Israel gave the green light for 900 new homes in a settlement near Jerusalem.
About 500,000 Jews live in the West Bank and annexed areas around Jerusalem alongside 2.7 million Palestinians. The settlements, Palestinians fear, could deny them a viable state.
BOMBARDMENT: Moscow sent more than 440 drones and 32 missiles, Volodymyr Zelenskiy said, in ‘one of the most terrifying strikes’ on the capital in recent months A nighttime Russian missile and drone bombardment of Ukraine killed at least 15 people and injured 116 while they slept in their homes, local officials said yesterday, with the main barrage centering on the capital, Kyiv. Kyiv City Military Administration head Tymur Tkachenko said 14 people were killed and 99 were injured as explosions echoed across the city for hours during the night. The bombardment demolished a nine-story residential building, destroying dozens of apartments. Emergency workers were at the scene to rescue people from under the rubble. Russia flung more than 440 drones and 32 missiles at Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy
COMPETITION: The US and Russia make up about 90 percent of the world stockpile and are adding new versions, while China’s nuclear force is steadily rising, SIPRI said Most of the world’s nuclear-armed states continued to modernize their arsenals last year, setting the stage for a new nuclear arms race, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said yesterday. Nuclear powers including the US and Russia — which account for about 90 percent of the world’s stockpile — had spent time last year “upgrading existing weapons and adding newer versions,” researchers said. Since the end of the Cold War, old warheads have generally been dismantled quicker than new ones have been deployed, resulting in a decrease in the overall number of warheads. However, SIPRI said that the trend was likely
‘SHORTSIGHTED’: Using aid as leverage is punitive, would not be regarded well among Pacific Island nations and would further open the door for China, an academic said New Zealand has suspended millions of dollars in budget funding to the Cook Islands, it said yesterday, as the relationship between the two constitutionally linked countries continues to deteriorate amid the island group’s deepening ties with China. A spokesperson for New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters said in a statement that New Zealand early this month decided to suspend payment of NZ$18.2 million (US$11 million) in core sector support funding for this year and next year as it “relies on a high trust bilateral relationship.” New Zealand and Australia have become increasingly cautious about China’s growing presence in the Pacific
Indonesia’s Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki yesterday erupted again with giant ash and smoke plumes after forcing evacuations of villages and flight cancelations, including to and from the resort island of Bali. Several eruptions sent ash up to 5km into the sky on Tuesday evening to yesterday afternoon. An eruption on Tuesday afternoon sent thick, gray clouds 10km into the sky that expanded into a mushroom-shaped ash cloud visible as much as 150km kilometers away. The eruption alert was raised on Tuesday to the highest level and the danger zone where people are recommended to leave was expanded to 8km from the crater. Officers also
RSS