by Shlomo Cesana, Eli Leon, Yoni Hirsch, Daniel Siryoti and Israel Hayom Staff
In response to unilateral Palestinian U.N. status upgrade, Israel approves construction of 3,000 new housing units beyond Green Line, revives E1 plan • Netanyahu: We are building, and will continue to build, in any location that serves Israel's strategic interests.
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Finance Minister Yuval
Steinitz (left) and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu:
No tax money to
the PA this month. [Archive]
Photo credit: Gideon Markovitz
The unilateral Palestinian efforts to gain
nonmember observer state status at the U.N., which was approved by an
overwhelming majority in the General Asssembly last week, sparked a
sharp Israeli response over the weekend: After a list of suggestions and
ideas, including dismantling the Palestinian Authority, were rejected
by the Political-Security Cabinet, it was decided to approve the
construction of 3,000 new housing units beyond the Green Line.
"We are building, and will continue to build,
in any location that serves Israel's strategic interests," Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the start of the weekly cabinet
meeting on Sunday.
Netanyahu began the meeting by quoting
the late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, who, in 1975, approved expanded
settlement construction in response to a U.N. resolution comparing
Zionism to racism. "The proper response to any attack on Zionism and the
State of Israel requires an increase and acceleration of settlement,"
Netanyahu quoted Rabin as saying.
In response to Thursday's U.N. decision,
Netanyahu said, "No Palestinian state will be established unless it
recognizes Israel as the state of the Jewish people and declares an end
to the conflict and to [Palestinian] demands."
Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz said on Sunday
that in response to the U.N. move, he planned to delay the transfer of
450 million shekels ($118 million) in tax money Israel had collected on
behalf of the Palestinian Authority.
"The provocation is a Palestinian provocation,
an effort to advance the establishment of a [Palestinian] state without
recognizing Israel, without demilitarizing and without proper security
arrangements," Steinitz said at the cabinet meeting. "We warned that we
would respond. I do not plan to transfer funds this month. I will
subtract the sum from their debts."
In regard to the decision to approve
settlement construction, Steinitz said, "We told the Americans that if
the Palestinians went to the U.N. there would be a response."
The political echelon's decision over the
weekend included immediate approval for the construction of 3,000 new
housing units in certain neighborhoods of east Jerusalem as well as in
Judea and Samaria, areas the Palestinians claim for a future state.
It was also decided to advance the E1 plan,
which aims to separate the West Bank from Jerusalem by creating a
physical link between the town of Maaleh Adumim in the east and the
neighborhoods of northern Jerusalem. This plan includes the construction
of 1,000 additional housing units.
Washington has long condemned the E1 plan,
devised in 1995, as effectively sabotaging any prospect of a peace
agreement between Israel and the Palestinians. According to a New York
Times article published Saturday, Israel only gave the U.S. "a few
hours’ notice of the plan," sparking outrage. In the past, the main
clashes between U.S. President Barack Obama and Netanyahu have been over
construction in Jewish settlements.
Speaking at the Saban Forum in Washington on
Friday, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton slammed Israel's
decision, saying “These activities set back the cause of a negotiated
peace."
However, Defense Minister Ehud Barak told his
colleagues in the American administration over the weekend that such a
response on behalf of the Israeli government was to be expected, Israel
Radio reported.
An official source in Jerusalem reported
Saturday that Israel was "considering further steps" and that "the
continued construction is undertaken in accordance with Israel's
strategic objectives." Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman remarked that
construction beyond the Green Line is "a part of our security outlook."
According to Netanyahu's close associates, the
construction push does not violate any agreement with the American
administration. The officials declined to detail the exact location of
the planned construction, but confirmed that it would be within existing
settlement blocs, Israel Radio reported.
Meanwhile, Housing Minister Ariel Atias (Shas)
defended the government's decision on Sunday, telling Israel Radio that
it would be futile to freeze settlement construction while Palestinian
Authority President Mahmoud Abbas waged a delegitimization campaign
against Israel. He recalled Abbas' refusal to resume peace talks despite
a 10-month Israeli construction freeze back in 2010, adding that his
ministry was committed to increasing the available housing across the
country.
On Saturday, Britain and France also condemned Israel's
plan, saying international confidence in its desire to make peace with
the Palestinians was at risk.
Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=6600
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