Israel’s approval of new settlement units a direct challenge to international community

Chief Palestinian Negotiator, Dr Saeb Erakat, today said that Israel’s decision to approve over 450 new settlement units for construction in the West Bank, including in and around East Jerusalem, is a direct challenge to US and international efforts to restart negotiations. 
 “Israel’s decision to approve the construction of over 450 new settlement units nullifies any affect that a settlement freeze, when and if announced, will have. It further undermines faith in the peace process, and the belief that Israel is a credible partner for peace,” Dr Erakat said.

 “Israel has introduced another loophole, one that exemplifies the enormous disconnect between rhetoric and reality that Israel has perfected in its dealings with Palestinians, the international community and the peace process. Should the Israeli government eventually decide to announce its version of a “settlement freeze,” what Palestinians will continue to see is the ongoing construction of Israeli settlements on their land, and the disappearance of their future state.”

 Rather than unite behind the current drive for peace, and find their way back to the negotiating table, Israel has decided to stay the course in its determination to frustrate US and international efforts to restart peace negotiations Dr Erakat said.

 “This decision to approve the construction of over 450 new settlement units poses a particularly serious challenge to the international community, who for the past eight months, have unambiguously stated that both sides must meet their obligations under existing agreements and international law to create the environment for meaningful negotiations to resume.”

 “Rather than meet its Road Map obligations, Israel has spent the past eight months trying to renegotiate the Road Map, including exemptions on a settlement freeze. It is now trying to unilaterally redefine a settlement freeze in a way that facilitates rather than stops future settlement construction.”

 “The construction of over 450 new settlement units is designed to further consolidate Israel’s colonization of the occupied Palestinian territory. For ordinary Palestinians, that means continued forced displacement and the loss of their land, more movement restrictions and greater economic stagnation, the severance of occupied East Jerusalem, the economic and political heart of Palestine, from the rest of the West Bank, and the daily violence, humiliation and injustice of life under occupation. This is not a step towards peace. It is a step back from peace,” Dr Erakat concluded.