[ad_1]
Jerusalem: IsraelThe far-right government on Monday approved plans to build thousands of new homes in Jewish settlements in the West Bank, in a move that threatened to exacerbate increasingly strained relations with the United States. The decision challenged mounting US criticism of Israeli settlement policies. Tension with the Palestinians has also increased at a time when violence has escalated in the occupied territories.
Several Israeli media outlets said that the Defense Ministry’s Planning Committee that oversees settlement construction has approved more than 5,000 new homes in the settlements. The units are in various stages of planning, and it was not immediately clear when construction would begin. The ministry did not immediately comment.
The international community, along with the Palestinians, considers settlement construction illegal or illegitimate and an obstacle to peace. More than 700,000 Israelis now live in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem – territories captured by Israel in 1967 and which the Palestinians have sought for their future state.
A Palestinian official in the West Bank, Wasel Abu Youssef, said, “The Netanyahu government is moving forward with its aggression and open war against the Palestinian people.” “We affirm that every settlement colonization in all the occupied Palestinian territories is illegitimate and illegitimate,” he added.
The Israeli government, which took office in late December, is dominated by religious politicians and ultra-nationalists with close ties to the settler movement. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a troubling settler leader, was given cabinet-level authority over settlement policies and pledged to double the number of settlers in the West Bank.
The Biden administration has been increasingly vocal in its criticism of Israel’s settlement policies. Earlier this month, Secretary of State Antony Blinken called the settlements “an obstacle to the horizon of hope that we seek” in a speech to the pro-Israel lobby group AIPAC.
Despite the criticism, the United States took little action against Israel. In a sign of its displeasure, the White House has yet to invite Netanyahu for a visit — as is customary after Israeli elections.
And this week, the US said it would not transfer money to Israeli institutions for science and technology research projects in the West Bank. The decision brought back the old pro-settlement policy canceled by the Trump administration.
Ahead of Monday’s vote, Israeli cabinet minister Yitzhak Wasserlev, a member of the far-right Jewish Power party, played down differences with the United States.
“I think the alliance with the United States will remain,” he told Army Radio. “There are disagreements, we knew how to deal with them in the past.”
Simcha Rothman, another far-right member of the ruling coalition, accused the Biden administration of being “morbidly obsessed” with the Israeli government.
Netanyahu’s government, the most right-wing in Israel’s 75-year history, has made settlement expansion its top priority.
Senior members have been pressing for increased construction and other measures to consolidate Israel’s control over the land in response to the more than year-old wave of violence with the Palestinians. Four Israelis were killed last week by Palestinian gunmen who opened fire near a Jewish settlement.
Israel expanded its military activity in the West Bank in early 2022 in response to a series of deadly Palestinian attacks. More than 135 Palestinians have been killed in fighting in the West Bank and East Jerusalem this year. Almost half belong to armed groups, although Israel says this number is much higher. But Palestinian stone throwers and people not involved in the violence were also killed. About 24 people were killed in Palestinian attacks.
Israel captured the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip in the 1967 Middle East War. The Palestinians claim the three lands for their future independent state.
Israel annexed East Jerusalem and claimed it as part of its capital – a claim not recognized internationally. It says the West Bank is a disputed territory whose fate must be decided through negotiations, while Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005. Two years later, Hamas swept into the territory.
Several Israeli media outlets said that the Defense Ministry’s Planning Committee that oversees settlement construction has approved more than 5,000 new homes in the settlements. The units are in various stages of planning, and it was not immediately clear when construction would begin. The ministry did not immediately comment.
The international community, along with the Palestinians, considers settlement construction illegal or illegitimate and an obstacle to peace. More than 700,000 Israelis now live in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem – territories captured by Israel in 1967 and which the Palestinians have sought for their future state.
A Palestinian official in the West Bank, Wasel Abu Youssef, said, “The Netanyahu government is moving forward with its aggression and open war against the Palestinian people.” “We affirm that every settlement colonization in all the occupied Palestinian territories is illegitimate and illegitimate,” he added.
The Israeli government, which took office in late December, is dominated by religious politicians and ultra-nationalists with close ties to the settler movement. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a troubling settler leader, was given cabinet-level authority over settlement policies and pledged to double the number of settlers in the West Bank.
The Biden administration has been increasingly vocal in its criticism of Israel’s settlement policies. Earlier this month, Secretary of State Antony Blinken called the settlements “an obstacle to the horizon of hope that we seek” in a speech to the pro-Israel lobby group AIPAC.
Despite the criticism, the United States took little action against Israel. In a sign of its displeasure, the White House has yet to invite Netanyahu for a visit — as is customary after Israeli elections.
And this week, the US said it would not transfer money to Israeli institutions for science and technology research projects in the West Bank. The decision brought back the old pro-settlement policy canceled by the Trump administration.
Ahead of Monday’s vote, Israeli cabinet minister Yitzhak Wasserlev, a member of the far-right Jewish Power party, played down differences with the United States.
“I think the alliance with the United States will remain,” he told Army Radio. “There are disagreements, we knew how to deal with them in the past.”
Simcha Rothman, another far-right member of the ruling coalition, accused the Biden administration of being “morbidly obsessed” with the Israeli government.
Netanyahu’s government, the most right-wing in Israel’s 75-year history, has made settlement expansion its top priority.
Senior members have been pressing for increased construction and other measures to consolidate Israel’s control over the land in response to the more than year-old wave of violence with the Palestinians. Four Israelis were killed last week by Palestinian gunmen who opened fire near a Jewish settlement.
Israel expanded its military activity in the West Bank in early 2022 in response to a series of deadly Palestinian attacks. More than 135 Palestinians have been killed in fighting in the West Bank and East Jerusalem this year. Almost half belong to armed groups, although Israel says this number is much higher. But Palestinian stone throwers and people not involved in the violence were also killed. About 24 people were killed in Palestinian attacks.
Israel captured the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip in the 1967 Middle East War. The Palestinians claim the three lands for their future independent state.
Israel annexed East Jerusalem and claimed it as part of its capital – a claim not recognized internationally. It says the West Bank is a disputed territory whose fate must be decided through negotiations, while Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005. Two years later, Hamas swept into the territory.
[ad_2]
