Illegal Israeli settlements

Israel moves on West Bank

Israel is moving forward with development of Jewish settlements in a contentious area east of Jerusalem, advancing a project that has long been condemned by international leaders as effectively dooming any prospect of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Contentious ... a labourer in Maale Adumim. World leaders see the expansion of settlements as a setback to peace talks. Photo: Reuters

the Age,

2 December, 2012

A day after the UN General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to upgrade the status of the Palestinians, a senior Israeli official said the government would pursue ''preliminary zoning and planning preparations'' for a development that would separate the West Bank cities of Ramallah and Bethlehem from Jerusalem. Such a project could prevent the creation of a viable, contiguous Palestinian state.

The US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, criticised the decision in a speech in Washington attended by Israel's Foreign Minister, Avigdor Lieberman, and the Defence Minister, Ehud Barak.

Rebuilding ... a Palestinian labourer looks down at a West Bank Jewish settlement near Jerusalem. Photo: Reuters

''In light of today's announcement, let me reiterate that this administration - like previous administrations - has been very clear with Israel that these activities set back the cause of a negotiated peace,'' Mrs Clinton said on Friday.

A senior Israeli official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said on Friday the decision was made late on Thursday night to move forward on ''preliminary zoning and planning preparations'' for housing units in E1, which would connect the large settlement of Maale Adumim to Jerusalem and therefore make it impossible to connect Ramallah and Bethlehem to Palestinian neighbourhoods of East Jerusalem.

Israel also authorised the construction of 3000 housing units in East Jerusalem and the West Bank.

The office of the Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, refused to comment on whether the settlement expansion was punishment for the recognition of the Palestinians as a non-member observer state at the UN, but it was widely seen as such.

Hanan Ashrawi, a senior Palestine Liberation Organisation official, denounced the decision as ''an act of Israeli aggression against a state''.

''The world needs to take up its responsibilities,'' she said.

The US, one of only eight countries that stood with Israel in voting against the Palestinians' upgrade, has for two decades vigorously opposed construction in E1, a 1200-hectare expanse of hilly parkland where a police station was opened in 2008.

Hagit Ofran, who runs the Settlement Watch project of Peace Now, called E1 a ''deal breaker for the two-state solution'' and decried the decision as ''disastrous''.

''Instead of punishing the Palestinians, they are actually punishing Israel,'' said Ms Ofran, who is Israeli. ''Instead of taking advantage of this bid in the UN and calling for negotiations to get to a two-state solution, this government is choosing to take actions that might prevent the possibility of a two-state solution.''

But Dani Dayan, leader of Israel's settler movement, welcomed the news, saying it was ''a very important Israeli interest to develop E1''.

He described the two-state solution as ''an existential threat to Israel'' and said the E1 development was ''beneficial for peace because a two-state solution is a prologue for another bloody confrontation''.

''The fear to develop the communities is not rational,'' Mr Dayan said. ''The opposition to the settlements has become a kind of religious dogma for the West.''

But Mr Dayan said he did not like the idea of expanding settlements ''as a sort of retaliatory or punitive step''.

''Under the circumstances that we understand the government operates, I think it's OK,'' Mr Dayan said. ''We have a legal and a political and a moral right to build. It's strategic for Jerusalem; to strengthen Jerusalem is the only horizon. We don't see it as an obstacle to peace.''