By Meredith Lee-Clark
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East
JERUSALEM, Israel/West Bank – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said his government has no plans to completely freeze Jewish settlements in the occupied territories of the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
On September 14, Netanyahu told the Israeli Knesset that settlement construction in East Jerusalem will “go on as planned.” Netanyahu added that Israel had several different interests to balance in implementing its settlement policies.
“There has to be a balance between the desire to make progress in political negotiations and the need to allow inhabitants of Judea and Samaria to continue to lead normal lives,” said Netanyahu, referring to the Israeli names for region also known as the occupied West Bank.
Netanyahu’s statements came while U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell was in the region to move both the Israelis and the Palestinians toward restarting peace negotiations. For weeks, the U.S. and the Palestinians have urged the Israeli government to agree to a freeze on settlement development as a precondition to any peace talks.
Mitchell arrived in Israel on September 12 ahead of the United Nations General Assembly taking place during the week of September 21. Many observers speculate Mitchell is in the region to prepare Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas for a meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama on the sidelines of the General Assembly.
President Obama has requested that Israelis completely halt any new construction on existing settlements, following the requirements of the Roadmap, the agreement created during the Bush Administration’s peace efforts in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.
The areas in dispute came under Israeli control after the 1967 Mideast War. Since 1967, both Israelis and Palestinians have claimed the area, which stretches from the Jordan River to the east and Jerusalem to the west. Palestinians argue that Israeli settlements defeat the Palestinian goal of establishing a viable, independent state. Palestinian officials maintain their goal has remained unchanged, even in light of Netanyahu’s statements.
“Israel has to stop stalling and focus on creating the atmosphere for a resumption of the peace process. Its sole track should lead to the establishment of the Palestinian state,” said Sabri Seidam, an aide to President Abbas.
For more information, please see:
Al-Jazeera – Funeral Delays Netanyahu-US Talks – 14 September 2009
Associated Press – Netanyahu: No Complete West Bank Building Freeze – 14 September 2009
Christian Science Monitor – Netanyahu Defiant on Israeli Settlements Ahead of Mitchell Meeting – 14 September 2009
Ma’an News Agency – Netanyahu: East Jerusalem Settlements Not Up For Discussion – 14 September 2009
Voice of America – Israeli PM Rejects Halting Settlement Construction – 14 September 2009
