Netanyahu defies Obama on Israeli settlement freeze
This is so thoroughly expected, it hardly could be called news, but it may reveal whether Obama is all talk, like his predecessor, when it comes to freezing the expansion of the illegal Israeli settlements on occupied lands. Netanyahu could hardly compromise on this without antagonizing most of those who voted for him, let alone his more reactionary allies. This story is from Reuters
Netanyahu defies Obama on Israeli settlement freeze
Sun May 24, 2009 2:17pm EDTBy Adam Entous
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday rebuffed U.S. calls for a full settlement freeze in the occupied West Bank and vowed not to accept limits on building of Jewish enclaves within Jerusalem.
Netanyahu’s defiant stance set the stage for a possible showdown with President Barack Obama, who, in talks with the new Israeli prime minister in Washington last week, pressed for a halt to all settlement activity, including natural growth, as called for under a long-stalled peace “road map.”
“The demand for a total stop to building is not something that can be justified and I don’t think that anyone here at this table accepts it,” Netanyahu told his cabinet, referring to Jewish settlements in the West Bank, according to an official.
Netanyahu said Israel had no plans to set up any new West Bank settlements. But he told Obama, according to the official, that his government “does not accept limitations on building” within what Israel defines as its capital, the Jerusalem municipality, an area that includes Arab East Jerusalem and parts of the West Bank captured in a 1967 Middle East war.
Palestinians want their own state in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip with its capital in Jerusalem. Settlement building in the city is a particularly sensitive issue for both sides.
“What we are interested in seeing is that Israel should implement its obligations under the road map, which includes halting settlement activity and expansion in all its forms,” Public Works and Housing Minister Mohammed Shatayyeh said.
He added that if Israel wanted to show it was serious about peace talks with the Palestinians it should stop providing utilities to settlements and deny them state funding.
Obama was expected to prod Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to resume long-stalled peace talks during a major speech in Cairo early next month.
Abbas has ruled out restarting those talks until Netanyahu, whose right-leaning government took office on March 31, commits to a two-state solution and halts settlement expansion.
Obama has surprised Israel with his activism on the settlement issue, but it is unclear how much pressure he will put on Netanyahu to freeze construction entirely, Israeli and Western officials said. Former President George W. Bush called for a freeze but building continued largely unchecked, Israeli anti-settlement advocacy groups say.
Half a million Jews live in settlement blocs and smaller outposts built in the West Bank and Arab East Jerusalem, all territory captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East War.
The World Court says all are illegal. The United States and European Union regard them as obstacles to peace.
Palestinians see the settlements as a land grab meant to deny them a state in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
How Obama will deal with this defiance will determine how serious he is about achieving peace between Israel and the Palestinians. The latter are already suspicious that he is all talk, that Israel will continue its policies without any meaningful movement that could bring peace. Israel has shown no interest in relinquishing its claims to the territory it has conquered. The previous government gave more lip service to peace talks; Netanyahu appears to contradict his prior rhetoric when he even tries to pretend to be interested in peace talks. The two state solution is not acceptable to him or most of his constituency. Giving up the settlements is not open for meaningful discussion. That those settlements are illegal under international law and a major roadblock to peace does not bother Netanyahu in the slightest. Obama may wish to sound firm and fair-minded, but he will be under enormous political pressure to avoid antagonizing Netanyahu, and I expect that pressure will override whatever desire Obama may have to broker a peace agreement. Bottom line, he cannot expect the current Israeli regime to cooperate. With the previous regime, he might have had a chance, though even that is doubtful. Too many Israelis think they have the right to keep the land they conquered and to treat the Palestinians like dirt. Too many believe they are the chosen people under constant threat of annihilation, so international law need not apply to them. There are too many unfortunate parallels to US mythology, so it would be too much to expect Obama to put any real pressure on Israel to make the moves necessary for peace.
September 19th, 2009 at 1:25 am
George Mitchell tried to get Netanyahu to budge, but Israel is having none of it, casting doubt on whether the meeting scheduled to restart peace talks will take place. This story is from the Guardian
US officials are whistling in the dark. All along the Palestinian position has been to demand a full settlement freeze. That is their right. Those settlements are illegal under international law, and everybody knows it. Abbas might have been waffling, implying some compromise was possible, but he knows how unpopular that kind of concession would be among his people. Israel is as usual thumbing its nose at the rest of the world, with the incredible gall to cast the Palestinians as the roadblock to meaningful peace talks. Israel knows Obama does not have the nerve to insist Israel honor its commitments under the roadmap. Israel may have agreed to that in principle, but all of the concessions Israel has promised are laden with such caveats. Israel likes the status quo, and while it may talk about peace, its leaders have no intention of giving up anything meaningful in order to achieve peace. That includes its unwillingness to comply with international law and cooperate with international investigations of its war crimes. Israel knew Obama was bluffing when he insisted on a settlement freeze, and now that bluff has been called.