Israel [3] pushed ahead with aggressive new settlement building on Wednesday, brushing aside a growing chorus of international opposition, including criticism by its Western allies, that the move threatened to destroy the peace process with thePalestinians [4].
December 20, 2012
Media Outlet:
The New York Times
Date:
December 19, 2012
The Housing Ministry authorized construction on 1,000 housing units in the West Bank [5], while the city of Jerusalem approved 2,610 units in Givat Hamatos, a new neighborhood in an area annexed after the 1967 war.
The actions came after 1,500 controversial units in the Jerusalem settlement of Ramat Shlomo were approved Monday and 500 others in Givat Hamatos on Tuesday. An additional 1,000 units, in Gilo, are expected to move forward on Thursday, in what experts said was the most activity in years in the areas known collectively as East Jerusalem, which the Palestinians see as their future capital.
Every member of the United Nations Security Council except the United States issued statements on Wednesday condemning the construction.
While the projects have long been planned, their advancement is part of Israel’s retribution for the lopsidedvote at the United Nations [6] last month that upgraded the Palestinians’ status to a nonmember observer state.
The developments in Givat Hamatos, which would be the first new neighborhood in Jerusalem in more than a decade, and in an area east of Jerusalem called E1 — which Israel also promised to move forward after the United Nations vote — are widely seen as threats to the two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“This gravely threatens efforts to establish a viable Palestinian state,” Ban Ki-moon [7], secretary general of the United Nations, said Wednesday in New York at his year-end news conference. “I call on Israel to refrain from continuing on this dangerous path, which will undermine the prospects for a resumption of dialogue and a peaceful future for Palestinians and Israelis alike. Let us get the peace process back on track before it is too late.”
The condemnations from the Security Council underlined the isolation that Israel has felt since the Nov. 29 vote in New York in which all of Europe except the Czech Republic either supported the upgrade of Palestinian status or abstained.
“We call on the Israeli government to rescind these plans,” said the statement issued by Israel’s allies Britain, France, Germany and Portugal, saying the actions “send a negative message and are undermining faith in its willingness to negotiate.”
“Settlements are illegal under international law and detrimental to any international efforts to restart peace negotiations and secure a two-state solution,” it said. “All settlement activity, including in East Jerusalem, must cease immediately.”
While the United States did not sign on to the statements by its fellow Security Council members, a State Department spokeswoman said Tuesday that the settlement activity put peace “further at risk.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu [8] of Israel seemed unbowed by the growing criticism. He told the ambassadors from several Asian nations on Wednesday that his government would continue to build across Jerusalem — as did its predecessors.
“Jerusalem has been the capital of the Jewish people for 3,000 years,” Mr. Netanyahu said, according to a statement released by his office. “I want you to ask any of you to imagine that you would limit construction in your own capital. It doesn’t make sense. And I think that for us, the important thing is that we are committed to our capitals; we’re committed to peace; and we’re going to build in Jerusalem for all its residents.”
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