EU is ‘deeply dismayed’ by settlements

AFP/Brussels

The EU said yesterday it is “deeply dismayed” by Israel’s plans for new West Bank settlements, a move which threatens to undercut peace efforts that instead should be revived. The E1 project that calls for the construction of new settler homes on a strip of West Bank land outside Jerusalem has fuelled a major diplomatic backlash, with experts warning it could wipe out hopes of establishing a viable Palestinian state. “The European Union is deeply dismayed by and strongly opposes Israeli plans to expand settlements in the West Bank, including in East Jerusalem, and in particular plans to develop the E1 area,” the 27 EU foreign ministers said in a statement at the end of a day-long meeting. The E1 plan “if implemented, would seriously undermine the prospects of a negotiated resolution of the conflict” as it would question the viability of the two-state settlement central to the peace process. On the day the bloc collected the Nobel Peace Prize, the EU “reiterates that settlements are illegal under international law and constitute an obstacle to peace”, it added. Ministers agreed that in view of recent developments, which include an unprecedented UN upgrade of the Palestinians’ diplomatic status, they believed it was now time to take “bold and concrete steps towards peace”. To this end, both sides must “engage in direct and substantial negotiations without pre-conditions in order to achieve a lasting solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, ending all claims”. The EU also called on the Palestinian leadership to use the UN upgrade constructively and not take steps which would “deepen the lack of trust and lead further away from a negotiated solution”. An Israeli foreign ministry statement said the EU position was “one-sided”. “Facts and history both prove that Jewish settlement never constituted an obstacle to peace,” it said. “The root cause of the absence of a peace accord is the Palestinian refusal to engage in direct negotiations and their unwillingness to recognise Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people,” it added. “This one-sided position taken by the EU rewards rejectionism.” Direct peace talks which began in September 2010 collapsed quickly in a dispute over settlements, with the Palestinians calling for a construction freeze and Israel arguing for a return to talks without such preconditions. Before the start of talks in 2010, Israel observed a 10-month freeze on new West Bank construction but has refused repeated requests to renew it, dismissing them as an unacceptable “precondition” for talks. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday scoffed at international criticism of the E1 plan. Speaking to foreign journalists, he compared the plan to build between largely Arab East Jerusalem and the West Bank settlement of Maaleh Adumin, to the accepted goal of a Palestinian state embracing the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. “I don’t understand how people say that a Palestinian state cannot exist if Maaleh Adumim is connected to Jerusalem,’ he said. “These are the same people who say that you’ll have a Palestinian state between Gaza and the West Bank, and they’re divided by 60-70km,” he said. “That’s fine, that doesn’t preclude a Palestinian state in their minds but the fact that Maaleh Adumim can be connected to Jerusalem by a corridor of 2-3km, (they say) that somehow prevents a Palestinian state. That’s not true. It’s simply false.” *The peace process must be revived urgently given developments in the Israel-Palestinian conflict, with the US playing a key role in doing so, Britain said yesterday. “There is an urgent need ... to restart the Middle East peace process,” British Foreign Secretary William Hague said. The situation had changed, especially with Israeli plans for major new settlements in East Jerusalem and the UN vote to upgrade the Palestinians’ diplomatic status, Hague said. Accordingly, he called on the US to get involved again so as to drive the peace process forward.