Binyamin Netanyahu tells US: We won't stop east Jerusalem settlement
building
Israeli prime minister defiant ahead of visit from US special envoy,
George Mitchell, despite deadlock in peace talks
* Rory McCarthy <http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/rorymccarthy> in
Jerusalem
* guardian.co.uk <http://www.guardian.co.uk/> , Thursday 22 April
2010 13.10 BST
[Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu]
The Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu insists that construction
in east Jerusalem will continue. Photograph: Sebastian Scheiner/Getty
Images
Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu has reportedly told the US
administration that his government will not stop settlement construction
in east Jerusalem, despite US pressure and long-running deadlock in
peace talks.
The message was delivered to US officials at the weekend, according to
reports by AP and the Wall Street Journal, and comes ahead of a visit to
the Middle East <http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middleeast> by George
Mitchell, the US special envoy, later today.
Mark Regev, a spokesman for Netanyahu, would not discuss the details of
Israel <http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/israel> 's talks with the US
administration but he said: "We want this process to succeed and to see
the restart of talks. We hope that this is possible soon."
Earlier this week Netanyahu insisted again that construction in east
Jerusalem would continue. "The Palestinian demand is that we prevent
Jews from building in Jewish neighbourhoods in Jerusalem. That is an
unacceptable demand. If we made it in London or made it in New York or
in Paris, people would cry foul," he told US television network ABC.
He admitted there were outstanding issues with the US. "We're trying to
resolve them through diplomatic channels in the best way that we can,"
Netanyahu said.
Relations between Israel and the US sank to a new low last month, after
a tense meeting between Netanyahu and President Barack Obama in
Washington. Details of their discussion have not emerged, but it
appeared Obama wanted Israel to stop building in Jewish settlements in
east Jerusalem as a prelude to restarting peace talks with the
Palestinians. The Palestinian leadership says it will not return to
talks without a full halt to settlement construction, in line with the
US roadmap. There have not been direct peace negotiations between the
two sides since before Israel's war in Gaza early last year.
Israel claims sovereignty over east Jerusalem, which it captured in the
1967 war and later annexed, and Netanyahu has insisted construction must
continue there. Internationally, east Jerusalem is regarded as under
Israeli military occupation and settlement on occupied land is illegal
under international law.
The US administration spent much of last year trying to convince
Netanyahu to halt all settlement construction. Netanyahu refused and
agreed only to a 10-month, partial halt to construction in the West Bank
- a moratorium which expires this autumn. Mitchell then spent many
months trying to prepare indirect negotiations between Israel and the
Palestinians, but a day after an agreement on so-called "proximity
talks" was announced, Israeli officials gave approval for 1,600 new
homes in an east Jerusalem
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/mar/14/israel-palestinian-territor\
ies> settlement during a visit by the US vice president, Joe Biden.
Biden condemned the decision and the indirect talks collapsed before
they had begun.
Israel has yet to restore its relations with the US and a refusal by
Netanyahu to halt east Jerusalem settlement building would only prolong
the confrontation. However, the Wall Street Journal said Netanyahu would
offer other incentives instead, including the release of Palestinian
prisoners from Israeli jails, the lifting of some checkpoints on the
occupied West Bank and allowing some more goods to enter Gaza, despite
the long Israeli economic blockade.
Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, said he hoped Mitchell
would bring the right formula to allow indirect talks to start. Mitchell
is expected to hold meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leaders from
tomorrow.
Several US officials have emphasised the importance for the US of
progress in Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations. Jim Jones, the
national security adviser, indicated this week that progress in the
Middle East would help Washington curb Iranian nuclear ambitions.
"Advancing this peace would ... help prevent Iran from cynically
shifting attention away from its failures to meet its obligations," he
said.
Israel has long argued that confronting Iran ought to be an
international priority. But Avigdor Lieberman, the Israeli foreign
minister, this week resisted any suggestion that a peace agreement
should be imposed on Israel and the Palestinians.
"Any attempt to force a solution on the parties without establishing the
foundation of mutual trust will only deepen the conflict," Lieberman
told diplomats in Jerusalem .
