Talk about chutzpah, or arrogance personified, a throw back to Clinton’s complaint when Netanyahu first visited the White House in 1996. But on the night before Netanyahu’s current visit to meet with Obama, the Israeli government announced that a new settlement will be started in the Jordan Valley. Netanyahu has already stated that Israel will never give up the Jordan Valley. By the same token, President Obama as well as Secretary of State Clinton made clear that settlement activity much stop if peace is ever to be attained.
Was this a symbolic response to Obama’s proposal for a two state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict?
Israel begins new settlement, despite U.S. opposition
Israel has moved ahead with a plan to build a new settlement in the northern West Bank for the first time in 26 years, pursuing a project the United States has already condemned as an obstacle to peace efforts.
The move comes on the eve of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s first meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama, despite Western calls for Israel to halt its settlement activity.
Tenders have been issued for 20 housing units in the new Maskiot settlement and contractors have arrived on site to begin foundation work.
Talk about chutzpah.