Israel announces new homes for settlers, Palestinians in West Bank ahead of Kushner visit

By Dan Williams

 

FILE PHOTO: Labourers work at a construction site in the Israeli settlement of Beitar Illit in the Israeli-occupied West Bank April 7, 2019. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun/File Photo

 

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel will build 6,000 new homes for Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank - a move Palestinian leaders decried as showing Israel's "colonial mentality" - but in a rare step it also approved permits for 700 houses for Palestinians.

 

Washington warmed to Wednesday's announcement, made ahead of a visit by President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy and son-in-law Jared Kushner to explore prospects for his own Israeli-Palestinian peace plan. Details of the plan remain vague, however.

 

The Palestinian leadership has rejected U.S. diplomacy, saying the Trump administration is biased towards Israel.

 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a conservative who is drumming up ultra-nationalist Jewish support ahead of a Sept. 17 election, has hinted that Israel could annex its West Bank settlements - in defiance of world powers that view the enclaves as illegal.

 

Most settlements are concentrated in Area C of the West Bank, which under the 1993 Oslo interim peace accords is fully controlled by Israel.

 

The Palestinians seek to end the Israeli occupation of territory seized in the 1967 Middle East and set up their own state in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem.

 

Israeli officials said on Wednesday Netanyahu's cabinet had approved permits 6,000 new homes for settlers and 700 new homes for Palestinians in Area C in what they described as a bid to rein in pirate construction.

 

According to Israel, about 450,000 settlers and 250,000-290,000 Palestinians live in Area C. A total of about 3 million Palestinians live throughout the West Bank.

 

Saying it rejected any Israeli construction or controls over Palestinian construction in the West Bank, the Palestinian leadership dismissed the housing announcement.

 

The Foreign Ministry in Ramallah called it "evidence of the dark colonial mentality of the rules in Israel and which ignores all United Nations resolutions, international law and the signed agreements".

 

The U.S. ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, said however the permits for the Palestinians were the first for some time.

 

"We spend lots of time speaking with the Israelis about improving conditions in the West Bank and Gaza," he told CNN.

 

Friedman sidestepped questions about whether the Trump administration foresaw a Palestinian state or Israeli annexations of West Bank land.

 

"We want the Palestinians to have autonomy. We want the Palestinians to govern themselves," he said.

 

"Israel has not presented to us any plan to retain or annex any portion of the West Bank and we have no view on it at all right now," Friedman added.

He added that in his view, Israel had the legal right to retain some portion of the West Bank.

 

The issue of Jewish settlements in occupied territory is one of the most contentious of the conflict and a main reason why the peace process based on the 1993 accords has run aground.

 

Following a previous announcenment on new settler houses in April, the European Union reiterated that all settlement activity was illegal under international law. It eroded the viability of a two-state solution and the prospects for a lasting peace, the EU said.

 

(Additional reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi; Editing by Angus MacSwan)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-08-01

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18 minutes ago, webfact said:

Israeli officials said on Wednesday Netanyahu's cabinet had approved permits 6,000 new homes for settlers and 700 new homes for Palestinians in Are

A very balanced decision! Lol! ????

As usual the Palestinians got screwed sad

36 minutes ago, candide said:

A very balanced decision! Lol! ????

And on such comment, back home we say, batter than a kick in the ass...????

3 minutes ago, Tug said:

As usual the Palestinians got screwed sad

Palestinians have been screwing themselves for the last 70 years, and by the look of things, they are very adamant to continue to do so... 

2 hours ago, webfact said:

Washington warmed to Wednesday's announcement, made ahead of a visit by President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy and son-in-law Jared Kushner to explore prospects for his own Israeli-Palestinian peace plan. Details of the plan remain vague, however.

A key feature of all trump plans. 

1 hour ago, ezzra said:

Palestinians have been screwing themselves for the last 70 years, and by the look of things, they are very adamant to continue to do so... 

What are they supposed to do against a US backed Israel

 

 

Why would Israel have 'the legal right to retain some portion of the West Bank'?

23 minutes ago, stevenl said:

Why would Israel have 'the legal right to retain some portion of the West Bank'?

there was this this little thing called war back in 1967 whereby several arab countries has started a war with Israel in order to kill all the jews and take their land, and when you start a war to over run and occupy another country, sometimes the opposite is happening and your land is take away from you and this is Why Israel has full rights on the west bank...

19 minutes ago, ezzra said:

there was this this little thing called war back in 1967 whereby several arab countries has started a war with Israel in order to kill all the jews and take their land, and when you start a war to over run and occupy another country, sometimes the opposite is happening and your land is take away from you and this is Why Israel has full rights on the west bank...

First of all a rather one-sided view, second of all, nothing to do with legal rights as per my question.

24 minutes ago, ezzra said:

there was this this little thing called war back in 1967 whereby several arab countries has started a war with Israel in order to kill all the jews and take their land, and when you start a war to over run and occupy another country, sometimes the opposite is happening and your land is take away from you and this is Why Israel has full rights on the west bank...

So by your line of thinking russa should have kept Europe after ww2 and the Cold War was a bad thing?and please don’t think I’m disparaging the Jewish people I’m not it’s just your justification 

3 hours ago, candide said:

A very balanced decision! Lol! ????

 

Well, more "balanced" than previous decisions, which saw no building permits to Palestinians, at all. In a way you're right, though - if differently than intended.

 

The original move was focused on building permits to the Palestinians. This was, presumably, part of some minor concessions Netanyahu made in talks with the Trump administration. Then came the elections, and following failed coalition forming efforts, a new elections set up for September.

 

At the time, Netanyahu could have probably passed the motion, as he had more political leverage on right wing political partners and elements within his own party. What with the current situation, the power balance seems to have shifted some - and no Israeli right-wing party in its right mind would piss off its base just before elections.

 

Hence, the motion was changed to what the OP describes. Allows Netanyahu to give something to Kushner & Co. on their upcoming visit, and protects right wing electoral interests for the upcoming elections.

 

It should be noted that there are permits, and that there's a rather wide gap between figures and actual construction materializing. Either way, a daft, politically motivated decision.

2 hours ago, Tug said:

As usual the Palestinians got screwed sad

 

They haven't got "screwed" more than usual, and this time got something out of it (if plans become reality).

 

2 hours ago, ezzra said:

Palestinians have been screwing themselves for the last 70 years, and by the look of things, they are very adamant to continue to do so... 

 

That may very well be correct, but the recent Israeli governments are giving Palestinian leaderships a run for their money when it comes to acting irresponsible, stupidly and against the best interests of their people.

1 hour ago, Yeahbutwhytho said:

What are they supposed to do against a US backed Israel

 

 

 

They are supposed to make better choices when choosing ways to oppose Israel. They are supposed to work toward promoting pre-independence national institutions and achieving some semblance of unity among themselves. I don't think rejectionism and violence served their cause very well.

1 hour ago, stevenl said:

Why would Israel have 'the legal right to retain some portion of the West Bank'?

 

I don't know what Friedman meant by that, and his version might very well have to do with religious issues etc.

 

If ignoring religious context and justification, then my explanation would be that there are parts of the West Bank and Jerusalem where Jews resided prior to 1947. Whether there's an actual "right" involved is doubtful, though. At least not on the level of implying right to annexation of such areas. Most formulations referencing an agreement discuss land swaps of one sort or another.

12 minutes ago, Morch said:

 

They haven't got "screwed" more than usual, and this time got something out of it (if plans become reality).

 

That makes it right then.

54 minutes ago, ezzra said:

there was this this little thing called war back in 1967 whereby several arab countries has started a war with Israel in order to kill all the jews and take their land, and when you start a war to over run and occupy another country, sometimes the opposite is happening and your land is take away from you and this is Why Israel has full rights on the west bank...

 

Conquest by war doesn't convey the sort of rights you imagine it does. Israel doesn't have "full rights" on the West Bank, not even the Israeli right wing government claims that. For now.

2 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

That makes it right then.

 

If you think it does, we'll have to disagree.

2 hours ago, Tug said:

As usual the Palestinians got screwed sad

They have been screwing themselves since the 1930's when they turned down an offer from the Brits of having 80% of the land for their own country, they just could not stand the Jews having the other 20%. After 1947 when they turned down 50% from the UN the Arab armies invaded newly formed Israel and it took the Jews a year to beat them, and so the attacks went on until 1967 when this land was taken over from attacking Arabs. Palestinians are only victims of their own hate and shortsightedness. Over 95% of occupied land including Sinai and Gazza have been given back to the Arabs. If Israel ever gave up the west bank it would be used as a base to fire rockets from by these so called Palestinians who never seem to know when they are beaten. They have never been interested in a 2 state solution only one state- theirs.

1 minute ago, Morch said:

 

If you think it does, we'll have to disagree.

Well I don’t see you offering any criticism of Israeli actions here.

 

Other than, well it could be worse.

6 minutes ago, Morch said:

 

Conquest by war doesn't convey the sort of rights you imagine it does. Israel doesn't have "full rights" on the West Bank, not even the Israeli right wing government claims that. For now.

Maybe the USA should give Texas back to Mexico then?

1 minute ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Well I don’t see you offering any criticism of Israeli actions here.

 

Other than, well it could be worse.

 

Yawn. I've posted several times on this topic. You want to focus on one post out of context, go right ahead. I've also posted often enough on these matters on numerous other topics - trying to paint my position on this as supportive of Israel's right wing government policies is nonsense.

1 minute ago, Orton Rd said:

Maybe the USA should give Texas back to Mexico then?

 

Maybe you should stick to the topic. Or at least acknowledged that different rules and conventions apply in different times. What was acceptable once, is not so later on.

OP..A total of about 3 million Palestinians live throughout the West Bank.

..the elephant in the room. What to do about them? They are staying put.

 

Israel is already a single state having 100% control of Palestinian lives but without giving them equal rights.
In that Israel does not seem to be planning to withdraw to the 67 borders (with land swaps) allowing a two state solution, this move makes an inevitable one state solution more likely.

With Trump cheer leading annexations, he has just speeded up the process.

In reality, another overt provocation.

 

 

2 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

In reality, another overt provocation.

 

 

 

In reality, this is more to do with Israeli politics than with an attempt to provoke the Palestinians.

Never ending story.....ongoing no end in sight

27 minutes ago, Morch said:

 

In reality, this is more to do with Israeli politics than with an attempt to provoke the Palestinians.

Which does not preclude this being an overt provocation.

49 minutes ago, Orton Rd said:

They have been screwing themselves since the 1930's when they turned down an offer from the Brits of having 80% of the land for their own country, they just could not stand the Jews having the other 20%. After 1947 when they turned down 50% from the UN the Arab armies invaded newly formed Israel and it took the Jews a year to beat them, and so the attacks went on until 1967 when this land was taken over from attacking Arabs. Palestinians are only victims of their own hate and shortsightedness. Over 95% of occupied land including Sinai and Gazza have been given back to the Arabs. If Israel ever gave up the west bank it would be used as a base to fire rockets from by these so called Palestinians who never seem to know when they are beaten. They have never been interested in a 2 state solution only one state- theirs.

Does'nt excuse what the Israeli's have been doing since 1967 though, does it?