White House says Israeli settlement building may not help peace

[webfact]

White House says Israeli settlement building may not help peace

REUTERS

 

A general view shows the Israeli settlement of Bet El in the occupied West Bank January 30, 2017. Picture taken January 30, 2017. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Trump administration said on Thursday Israel's building of new settlements or expansion of existing ones in occupied territories may not be helpful in achieving peace with Palestinians, adopting a more measured tone than its previous pro-Israel announcements.

 

In a statement issued two weeks before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is due to visit U.S. President Donald Trump, the White House said the administration "has not taken an official position on settlement activity."

 

Trump, a Republican, has signalled he could be more accommodating toward settlement projects than his Democratic predecessor Barack Obama. The latest statement reflects slightly more nuanced language on how the new administration views settlement activity.

 

"While we don’t believe the existence of settlements is an impediment to peace, the construction of new settlements or the expansion of existing settlements beyond their current borders may not be helpful in achieving that goal," the White House said in a statement.

 

The statement could disappoint Israel's far-right which had hoped Trump would give an unqualified green light on rapid settlement construction in the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem - areas Israel captured in the 1967 war.

 

Former president Obama routinely criticized settlement construction plans and his administration often described settlement activity as lacking legitimacy and impeding peace.

 

The White House statement came as Israel has ratcheted up settlement activity. On Wednesday, it said it would establish a new settlement in the occupied West Bank, the first since the late 1990s. It also announced plans for 3,000 more settlement homes in the West Bank, the third such declaration in less than two weeks since Trump took office.

 

An announcement a week ago by Israel that it would build some 2,500 more dwellings in the West Bank, territory captured in the June 1967 Arab-Israeli war and where Palestinians now seek statehood, drew rebukes from the Palestinians and the European Union.

 

(Reporting by Washington Newsroom; Writing by Yara Bayoumy; Editing by Eric Beech and Bill Rigby)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-02-03

[Ulysses G.]

Trump gave Israel a slight slap on the back of the hand and showed that he is somewhat balanced on the issue.. Now, no one can blame him for the settlements. Pretty clever Mr. President.

 

[jollyhangmon]

'may not' as in 'not sure'? That's a good one ...  

[dexterm]

Have you ever heard such weasel words.

 

"may not be helpful" Trump has dug deep in the lexicon of hypocrisy for that one.

 

His statement completely contradicts itself in the self same sentence...

"While we don’t believe the existence of settlements is an impediment to peace, the construction of new settlements or the expansion of existing settlements beyond their current borders may not be helpful in achieving that goal," the White House said in a statement.

 

Settlement building is not an impediment to peace...err... but it may be!

 

Here comes another Trump flip flop after wholeheartedly supporting settlement expansion. Someone has obviously whispered in his ear, that he is helping Israel to hurtle itself towards a one state solution and a de jure apartheid situation, which could bring an end to the Zionist dream. Good riddance.

[DaddyWarbucks]

US politicians like to preach from on high about justice for Palestinians and Israelis alike.

When it comes to Palestine, for decades the United States has hidden behind a cheap frilly veneer of neutrality all the while subsidizing, to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars, a vicious, often deadly, criminal occupation that has used impediment and stalling tactics to occupy a landscape that has been home to Palestinians for the millennium.

The cold hard reality is US politicians care far more about the domestic political mileage and influence of American Zionists than they do abstract notions of international law or justice for Palestinians.

All recent US presidents have determined that they could pontificate to the world about justice for Palestinians but finance Israel in its drive to purge them from the river to the sea without costs that they were unwilling to bear.

However, these same presidents discerned a bright red line beyond which they could not cross without unleashing consequences far too explosive to contemplate... namely, moving the US embassy from Tel Aviv to the capital of Palestine in Jerusalem.

Apparently Donald Trump does not care.

To the politically naïve, such a move would be of little practical consequence... a mere symbolic gesture. To millions of Palestinians, indeed hundreds of millions of Arabs, moving the US Embassy to Jerusalem would constitute a point of no return... a veritable disaster in waiting.

In one fell swoop, it would signal an end to two separate yet related fictions that, since Oslo, have helped to enable a relative calm in Palestine even in the presence of the loss of much of it to settlers: 1] that the United States was interested in even the semblance of neutrality and 2] that the PA has the ability to represent the traditions and aspirations of the Palestinian people with meaningful capability and authority.

So, Mr.Trump, proceed at your own peril. If you feel as Ambassador-to-be Friedman does, that Jerusalem is "Israel's eternal capital"... proceed with your folly. Move the embassy.

To millions of Palestinians, the only answer will be militant and fierce resistance, and it will come... as sure as the early morning call to prayer.

[DaddyWarbucks]

6 minutes ago, dexterm said:

Have you ever heard such weasel words.

 

"may not be helpful" Trump has dug deep in the lexicon of hypocrisy for that one.

 

His statement completely contradicts itself in the self same sentence...

"While we don’t believe the existence of settlements is an impediment to peace, the construction of new settlements or the expansion of existing settlements beyond their current borders may not be helpful in achieving that goal," the White House said in a statement.

 

Settlement building is not an impediment to peace...err... but it may be!

 

Here comes another Trump flip flop after wholeheartedly supporting settlement expansion. Someone has obviously whispered in his ear, that he is helping Israel to hurtle itself towards a one state solution and a de jure apartheid situation, which could bring an end to the Zionist dream. Good riddance.

Your post is spot on.

[Naam]

please do not insult weasels!

[Emster23]

"may not be helpful" should go into history books. Would show that Trump IS capable of understatement....

[Jingthing]

I'd like to see the U.S. get very tough on both sides but at this point trump's Israel peace plan is on his totally unqualified relative Kushner. Anyone that thinks that's going to help I would like to offer a bridge to sell. 

[Srikcir]

6 hours ago, Ulysses G. said:

Trump gave Israel a slight slap on the back of the hand

Concidentally following the Senate confirmation of Tillerson as Secretary of State. So probably more likely that Tillerson gave Trump the first slap - on the back of Trump's head - to stop making any Palestine-Israel peace negotiations impossible. Otherwise, Kushner will fail Day One and embarrass Daddy.

[Jingthing]

Well, perhaps there is something to that. Tillerson is correctly seen based  on his previous career as being very Arab/Muslim world centered with little interest in Israel. The newly minted trump regime certainly contains a lot of internal contradictions. When you consider trump has no core ideology, it's going to be quite an internal dance ... but indications now are the main driver of trump's direction is the bizarre alt-right conspiracy theory looney tunes BANNON. The alt-right movement is white supremacist or at least pro white identity movement and does not consider Jews to be "white" (ironically probably most Jews would agree) but they also are often in favor of the right wing factions of Zionism (they see that as a role model for an American right wing white racial identity movement which they now have the power to effect). 

Edited February 3, 2017 by Jingthing

[Kiwiken]

Greater Israel is rising