As if to appease Barak Obama after their meeting in the White House, Bibi Netanyahu announced the dismantling of a single illegal outpost of 20 or so settlers on the West Bank, which was immediately reconstructed, according to news reports. To emphasize his seriousness, Netanyahu then ordered that 22 illegal outposts be torn down.
Crumbs, crumbs, and more crumbs since the real obstacle to peace are the major settlements comprising Israeli only villages, towns and virtual cities in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Netanyahu: We’ll build only in existing settlements
By Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondent and The Associated Press
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his cabinet on Sunday that the government would not establish new settlements in the West Bank, though he did say that existing settlements ought to be allowed to expand due to “natural growth.”
Netanyahu is under stiff pressure from the United States to halt settlement activity on lands claimed by the Palestinians. The U.S. considers settlements – home to some 280,000 Israelis – obstacles to peace.
The premier said his government was committed to upholding the law in the West Bank, a reference to his government’s plan to dismantle unauthorized settlement outposts in the territories.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Sunday that 22 illegal outposts in the West Bank would be torn down, and warned that settlers would be evicted forcefully if they resisted.
(All settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories are considered illegal by international law.)
It was recently reported that Israel intended to construct another 70,000 new homes in the coming year in the Palestinian territories. Presumably, this expansion is to accomodate “natural growth.”
Give us a break, Mr. Netanyahu.
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Barak told reporters before the weekly meeting of the Israeli Cabinet that he would take down 22 outposts that Israel promised the U.S. to dismantle under the 2003 “road map” peace plan.
“The 22 … have to be dealt with now in a responsible, appropriate manner, first of all, exhausting all efforts at dialogue and if that proves impossible, then unilaterally, using force if necessary,” he said.
Several ministers in Netanyahu’s hardline Cabinet said they were in no hurry to knock down the outposts.
The evacuation of outposts needs to be part of a “comprehensive program,” and not piecemeal, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said.
“Outposts do not have to be dismantled now,” said Interior Minister Eli Yishai. “There is rampant illegal construction on the part of Palestinians and Israeli Arabs. If we go for enforcement, then enforcement has to be unified, just and equitable.”
The outposts are an addition to the 121 settlements the government has sanctioned over the years. Netanyahu has declared his intention to expand construction in existing settlements, a bone of contention with the U.S.
Settler spokesman Dani Dayan said if Netanyahu honors his campaign commitment to ramp up construction in the West Bank, “then there will be room to talk about the outposts.”
I wonder why Barak reverts to the 2003 peace plan dictated by Ariel Sharon to George Bush … probably their best offer from any U.S. president.
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article10550.shtml
When will Zionists learn that starving and taking away their livelihood will not break the Palestinians.
The real question is, Will the U.S. establishment ever become outraged by such hateful behavior and unequivocally demand an end to the occupation . The Zionists will never change their ways because by definition they are acting as Zionists should act. It’s the U.S. over and over and over.. The U.S. lets this go on, the U.S. is culpable.
“The real question is, Will the U.S. establishment ever become outraged by such hateful behavior and unequivocally demand an end to the occupation.“
And the real answer is of course not.