by Tovah Lazaroff
Deputy Secretary of State Sherman met with Herzog at the State Department and conveyed the US's concern about the repeal of the 2005 Disengagement Law.
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Ambassador to the US Mike Herzog speaks at the Museum of the Bible.
(photo credit: SHMULIK ALMANI)
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Israel won’t rebuild the four northern Samaria settlements that were destroyed during the 2005 Disengagement, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said after the United States summoned the country’s Ambassador Mike Herzog to the State Department to clarify the matter.
“The government has no intention of establishing new settlements in these areas,” Netanyahu said on Wednesday.
He made no reference to the illegally constructed Homesh yeshiva at the site, which the coalition has already promised to authorize.
The Biden administration has accused Israel of violating two promises it made to the US after the Knesset voted to lift its ban on the entry of Israelis to the sites of the four evacuated settlements.
It’s the first step necessary toward rebuilding those communities. Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan has already begun to do the preparation work for such a step. Many of the preparatory moves would actually need only the approval of Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich. Bureaucratic work could move forward for a long time before it ever went to the government for approval.
Israel's settlers and right-wing activists gather at the abandoned
Jewish settlement of Homesh, northern West Bank, June 12, 2007. (credit:
YONATHAN WEITZMAN / REUTERS)Netanyahu did speak in support of the vote itself, which he said “brings an end to a discriminatory and humiliating law that prohibited Jews from living in the areas of northern Samaria, part of our historical homeland. It is no coincidence that senior members of the opposition supported this law along the way.”
Deputy Secretary of State Wendy R. Sherman met with Herzog at the State Department and conveyed US “concern regarding legislation passed by the Israeli Knesset rescinding important aspects of the 2005 Disengagement Law, including the prohibition on establishing settlements in the northern West Bank.”
“They also discussed the importance of all parties refraining from actions or rhetoric that could further inflame tensions leading into the Ramadan, Passover, and Easter holidays,” the State Department said.
Netanyahu’s government believes that the repeal corrects the historic injustice of the plan, under which Israel also withdrew from Gaza.
It has argued that the withdrawal has only led to increased terror against Israel, with Hamas taking over Gaza to use as a launching pad for rockets and with West Bank terror cells strengthening their presence in northern Samaria.
The US views the repeal as a direct violation of the letters of understanding passed between former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and former US President George Bush in 2004.
Israeli reactions
The Prime Minister's Office clarified the position of the Israeli government in a statement on Wednesday, saying: "The Knesset's decision to repeal parts of the disengagement law brings an end to a discriminatory and humiliating law that prohibited Jews from living in the areas of northern Samaria, part of our historical homeland. It is no coincidence that senior members of the opposition supported this law along the way."
"However, the government has no intention of establishing new settlements in these areas," the statement concluded.
Opposition leader and former Prime Minister Yair Lapid accused Netanyahu of destroying Israel's relationship with the US.
His government "managed to eliminate Washington's support. They are doing the things that we all always knew should not be done and if Netanyahu was not so weak he would not have let them do it either."
Likud MK Dan Illouz disagreed. “We have no problem clarifying to the United States in every conversation in which we are invited that the Land of Israel belongs to the Jewish people."
“They are welcome to invite us to clarify this at any time. We are available and happy to do so,” he added.
"The last summoning of an Israeli ambassador for clarification was many, many years ago, as far as I know," National Unity Party MK Gadi Eizenkot said in a Wednesday morning interview to 103FM. "This indicates the magnitude of the government's violation as perceived by the Americans."
"We again see weakness by the government and decisions that are a political conjecture, resulting in damage to Israel's national interests. I hope this hasty decision doesn't result in blood. It will take a very long time to rebuild and restore the damage to the relations and trust between Israel and the US," Eizenkot added.
Tovah Lazaroff
Source: https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/politics-and-diplomacy/article-735052
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