Israel's Netanyahu: Existing settlements will grow

[Rugged Monk]

 
Israel's Netanyahu: Existing settlements will grow

JERUSALEM (AP) — The front-runner in Israel's election next month said he would allow West Bank settlements to expand as the population grows — a policy likely to face opposition from the Palestinians and the new U.S. administration.
The comments by opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu appeared in an Israeli newspaper Monday, two days before Washington's new Mideast envoy, George Mitchell, is to make his first visit to the region. Mitchell, a critic of Israel's West Bank settlements, is likely to meet with Israeli leaders, including Netanyahu, and focus on ways to revive peace talks in the wake of Israel's recent offensive in Gaza.



Netanyahu was quoted by the Haaretz daily as telling international Mideast envoy Tony Blair at a meeting Sunday that he would continue Israel's policy of allowing settlements to expand as families grow and people move in.

"I have no intention of building new settlements in the West Bank," Netanyahu was quoted as saying. "But like all the governments there have been until now, I will have to meet the needs of natural growth in the population. I will not be able to choke the settlements."

Netanyahu spokeswoman Dina Libster confirmed the quotes were accurate. Blair's office did not return messages seeking comment.

Settlement construction in the West Bank has been a key obstacle to peace talks over the years. The Palestinians claim all of the West Bank as part of a future independent state that would also include Gaza and East Jerusalem. They say Israel's settlements, home to 280,000 people in the West Bank, make it increasingly difficult for them to establish a viable state.

Nearly all Israeli settlement construction over the past decade has taken place in West Bank communities. Netanyahu's positions do not significantly differ from outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who has allowed construction in settlements to continue while holding peace talks with the Palestinians.

Mitchell's appointment has some Israeli leaders worried that the new administration of President Obama will be tougher on Israel than the Bush administration was. In 2001, Mitchell called for a freeze on all Israeli settlement construction when he led an international commission to investigate violence in the Middle East.

Polls show Netanyahu's Likud Party is likely to win the Feb. 10 elections, a victory that would allow him to reclaim the premiership he held from 1996 to 1999. Netanyahu has said he would try to refocus peace talks on building the Palestinian economy and governing institutions.

That approach does not sit well with Palestinian negotiators, who want the talks to continue focusing on resolving the key disputes with Israel over settlements, final borders, the fate of disputed Jerusalem and a solution for Palestinian refugees.

Further complicating the peace talks is the Hamas militant group's takeover of Gaza in June 2007. Israel ended a devastating three-week military offensive against Hamas on Jan. 18.

Israeli and Palestinian negotiators have agreed that the foundation for any peace accord would be the internationally backed "road map" peace plan, which explicitly bans all settlement construction, including natural growth, and requires the Palestinians to dismantle militant groups. Israel has argued that natural growth should not be included in the ban.

In Gaza, the European Union's top humanitarian official, Louis Michel, announced the equivalent of $74 million in aid to Palestinians, including the equivalent of $41 million earmarked to "respond to the dramatic humanitarian situation in Gaza" after Israel's offensive. He said none of the funds would be channeled to Hamas, which he said "is acting in the way of a terrorist movement."

The EU, like Israel and the United States, considers Hamas a terrorist group.

Michel condemned "military operations that target the Palestinian people and their property," calling them "flagrant violations of international humanitarian law." Israel has denied targeting civilians and has blamed Hamas for causing civilian fatalities by operating from residential areas.

Michel called for those responsible for the recent violence to be investigated on both sides. The Israeli offensive, launched to halt years of Hamas rocket attacks, killed nearly 1,300 people and caused extensive damage to Gaza's infrastructure. Thirteen Israelis died in the fighting.

Michel spoke in front of a food warehouse at the main U.nited Nations compound in Gaza, which was funded by the EU and heavily damaged by Israeli shelling. He urged Israel to throw open blockaded borders with Gaza to humanitarian aid and supplies to help the battered Gaza economy to recover.



 
Find this article at:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2009-01-26-netanyahu-west-bank_N.htm 
 

[virtuoso]

Of course, he is an evil scumbag, the ideology he remains faithful to is evil, now I respect your viewpoint man but evil is evil so don't be giving me that we are all human line  , when you disregard human life, you cross to the realm of being inhuman, when you take pleasure in suffering you become inhuman. There is absolutely no intention of preventing the settlements and in turn AIPAC have such a vice like influence on the U.S, that the U.S will continue to allow Israeli funding despite this declaration of intent.

So all the Isrselis (adminsitration) have to do is stand back and let the palestinians do something anything, decry them as terrorists and then the excuse for mass terrorism has the perfect opportunity once again.

Cause and effect

[Rugged Monk]

Fasho. Its a cycle geared in Israelis' favour. Slow motion genocide and invasion.

Nothing that hasn't been said before.


Shaloin Illuminati Click would have done soemthing about it long ago, but in their own right, regardless of the US or UK position, Israel has power to do whatever it wants, see bombing of the USS Liberty and King David Hotel. They definately have earned their right to exist, but of course we all know that isn't the real issue...

Of course, he is an evil scumbag, the ideology he remains faithful to is evil, now I respect your viewpoint man but evil is evil so don't be giving me that we are all human line  , when you disregard human life, you cross to the realm of being inhuman, when you take pleasure in suffering you become inhuman.

I know evil is evil, i just can't find comfort resting upon such absolutes, its better to do the knowledge on evil and understand it, sometimes things maybe 80% evil but 10% good. People may say something that is 99% ignorant but can also be 1% wise, i'm not saying the latter excuses the former; but often its the tragedy of the human condition to resignedly take the obvious as absolute and overlook everything else.

Peace

[I TO DA GEEZY]

Of course, he is an evil scumbag, the ideology he remains faithful to is evil

I think I said it in the past but there's a problem with attributing any sincere ideological beliefs to this person. The guy is an opportunist. He knows where the wind blows politically. I don't know if you've seen the polls but most Israelis respond well to strong-arm personalities. I think  this is partly why he's also leading in the polls for the upcoming election. All this quite apart from the ideology of revisionist Zionism which is indeed fascist in its origins.