Midldle East - Israel: US says Israeli settlements in West Bank not illegal in dramatic reversal

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Monday that Israeli settlements in West Bank are not inconsistent with international law.

Read more at:
https://www.euronews.com/2019/11/18/us-says-israeli-settlements-in-west-bank-not-illegal-in-dramatic-reversal

Israel: President Trump backtracks on Israeli settlements, Jerusalem embassy - Matthew Rozsa

President Trump is sounding more and more like President Barack Obama when it comes to issues important to Israel. “Well, I want Israel to be reasonable with respect to peace,” Trump told Israel Hayom, after being asked about whether he would move America’s embassy to Jerusalem. “I want to see peace happen. It should happen. After all these years. . . Maybe there is even a chance for a bigger peace than just Israel and the Palestinians. I would like to see a level of reasonableness of both parties, and I think we have a good chance of doing that.”

Having not directly answered the interviewer’s question, interviewer Boaz Bismuth posed it again. Trump replied, “I am thinking about the embassy, I am studying the embassy [issue], and we will see what happens. The embassy is not an easy decision. It has obviously been out there for many, many years, and nobody has wanted to make that decision. I’m thinking about it very seriously, and we will see what happens.”

Trump was more decisive in his stance on the Israeli settlements in the Palestinian Territories, which Israel resumed within days of Trump taking office.

Read more: President Trump backtracks on Israeli settlements, Jerusalem embassy - Salon.com

Israel: Britain condemns new Israeli settlement units

The British government condemned Israeli proposals for additional settlement housing units in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem on Thursday. “The UK condemns the Israeli authorities’ decision to issue tenders for a further 323 settlement units in East Jerusalem,” said Minister of State for Middle East Affairs Tobias Ellwood in a statement. “This follows recent development of plans for 770 new units in the Jerusalem suburbs.”

Settlement activity is “counterproductive” added Ellwood. “As set out in the Quartet report, this undermines progress towards a two-state solution.”

Notably, the British MP pointed out that the Israeli announcement “comes on the back of an alarming increase in demolitions of Palestinian houses throughout 2016, including in East Jerusalem.” He added, “These steps are the latest examples of what seems to be an acceleration of a systematic policy of illegal settlement expansion and demolition of Palestinian property.”

Noting the international rejection of Israeli settlements, Ellwood concluded his statement by saying, “Along with our international partners, we call on Israel to halt all demolitions and settlement activities.”

Read more: Britain condemns new Israeli settlement units – Middle East Monitor

Germany: Frosty diners: Merkel meets Netanyahu amid strained ties

Benjamin Netanyahu meets and dines with Angela Merkel in Berlin Wednesday night. But the Israeli PM is smarting from Germany's UN vote abstention and the German chancellor is seething over Israel's settlements. It could be a frosty dinner.

Nearly a week after Germany abstained from voting on a resolution upgrading the Palestinians’ status at the UN in a last-minute reversal that incensed Israel, German Chancellor Angela Merkel is to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Berlin Wednesday night amid strained relations between the two allies.

Netanyahu arrives in the German capital after a clash between the Israeli and German governments on the contentious Israeli settlement issue, which followed Germany’s abstention at the UN General Assembly vote.

A day after the November 29 vote granting the Palestinians “non-member observer” status at the UN, Israel announced plans to build new settlements in the sensitive “E1” zone east of Jerusalem – a prospect that would cut access from the West Bank to East Jerusalem.

Germany has joined the chorus of European condemnations over the move, calling it “a negative message” that is “eroding trust in its [Israel’s] willingness to negotiate” as “the land for a future Palestinian state is disappearing further”.
 
Read more: Frosty diners: Merkel meets Netanyahu amid strained ties

UK and France summon Israeli envoys in settlements row

Britain and France have both summoned Israeli ambassadors in protest at Israel's decision to approve the construction of 3,000 new homes in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

The UK said the move would cast doubt on Israel's "stated commitment to achieving peace with the Palestinians". Israel authorized the 3,000 additional housing units a day after the UN voted to upgrade Palestinian status.

An official close to the prime minister said Israel would not change its mind.
"Israel will continue to stand by its vital interests, even in the face of international pressure, and there will be no change in the decision that was made," an official in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said.

Sweden has also summoned the Israeli ambassador, while Russia and Germany have expressed their opposition to the settlement plans.

The UN has warned the homes would be "an almost fatal blow" to peace hopes.

Read more: BBC News - UK and France summon Israeli envoys in settlements row

Israel: Netanyahu: Can't ignore pressure over settlements

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says international pressure against construction in West Bank settlements cannot be ignored, indicating that building could be curbed.

Netanyahu spoke to party members in the parliament Monday, after the U.S. vetoed a Palestinian-backed resolution in the U.N. Security Council calling the settlements illegal.

Netanyahu said: "We are trying to maintain existing construction, but we must understand that we are facing a very difficult international reality," suggesting that new projects might not be approved.

For more: Netanyahu: Can't ignore pressure over settlements | ajc.com

UN: EU and Israel clash over Arab-Israeli conflict and EU oppose Jewish settlements on occupied territory

Speaking at a press conference, Hungarian foreign minister Janos Martonyi, representing the rotating EU presidency, said the "dramatic changes and regional instability" make progress in the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks "more imperative and more urgent than ever before. "Time is pressing, for both parties. The EU wants to help as much as it can with direct or indirect talks, and the parties can't avoid discussing the core issues," he added.

When pressed by Brussels-based journalists on Israeli settlement-building on occupied Palestinian land, seen by the EU and the Palestinians as a major obstacle to talks, Israeli foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman said this is a "prejudiced view".

The EU in 2009 froze a proposed upgrade of its relations with Israel, in part due to the Israeli bloody attack on the densely-populated Gaza strip and in part due to settlements. Last week, all four EU members of the UN Security Council - France, Britain, Portugal and Germany - backed a Palestinian resolution denouncing the settlements as illegal. Washington vetoed the measure.

EU-Digest

The Faster Times: The Jerusalem Puzzle: Jewish Enclaves in Arab Neighborhoods - by Dina Kraft

For the complete report from the Faster Times click on this link

The Jerusalem Puzzle: Jewish Enclaves in Arab Neighborhoods - by Dina Kraft

While most eyes are cast on the West Bank for a showdown over Jewish settlements there, there is another important battle going on - one that could also shape the future of the conflict’s resolution. It centers on the creation of Jewish enclaves in predominately Arab East Jerusalem. It has begun to heat up in the area in and around the Old City called the “holy” or “historic basin,” a patch of land chocker-blocked with sites holy to Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. The Israeli government says Jewish Israeli citizens are allowed to live in any part of the capital. Critics say it’s a cynical attempt to make East Jerusalem as “Jewish” as possible and foil any future attempts to divide the city as part of a future peace deal.

This week a plan for building a housing project with 104 apartments for Jewish Israelis was filed for approval with the city south of the Mount of Olives. Inside the complex are plaques thanking generous American donors like Irving Moskowitz, the Miami bingo parlor king who is one of the major backers of the drive to settle East Jerusalem with nationalist Jewish enclaves. About $25.4 million has been donated by Americans for the project of buying property for Jewish groups in East Jerusalem.