Netanyahu warns of peace speak delays
WASHINGTON – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated on Tuesday he feared Middle East peace speaks could be delayed for another year unless Palestinians dropped their demand for a full settlement freeze.
“We must not be trapped by an illogical and unreasonable demand,” Netanyahu told U.S. congressional leaders during a Washington visit, according to his spokesman. “It could put the peace negotiations on hold for another year.”
The Palestinians retreated from their agreement to start indirect, U.S.-mediated peace negotiations with Israel two weeks ago after it announced plans to construct 1,600 homes for Jews in an area of the occupied West Bank annexed to Jerusalem.
Face-to-face peace speaks have been suspended since December 2008.
The new housing project also touched off the most serious spat between Israel and Washington since President Barack Obama took office last year.
Netanyahu made his comments at a meeting on Capitol Hill with leading Democrats and Republicans several hours before he was due to hold low-profile White House speaks with Obama.
Israeli officials dismissed Palestinian concerns over Israeli settlement in and near East Jerusalem, territory Israel captured along with the West Bank in the 1967 Middle East war.
They stated even Palestinians understood that apartment blocs Israel erected for Jews across occupied areas of the city could not be dismantled in any future peace deal.
Palestinians want East Jerusalem as the capital of a say they seek in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
Netanyahu also hailed the bipartisan support in Congress for Israel as he stood flanked by party leaders Nancy Pelosi and John Boehner. He stated support from Republicans and Democrats in Congress “is deeply, deeply appreciated by the people of Israel, across the board,” according to an account in the Chicago Sun-Times.
Destroying trustOn Monday, Netanyahu, talking to the pro-Israel lobbying group the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, stood by the claim that building anywhere in Jerusalem is an Israeli right. “Jerusalem is not a settlement. It’s our capital,” he said.
However, talking at the same conference Tuesday, Mideast peace negotiator Tony Blair, the former British prime minister, stated that Israel’s settlement policy was destroying trust with the Palestinians.
“So what I ask of Israel, as its friend, is not to risk its security; but to know that in changing the lives of the Palestinians who want peace and if empowered, can deliver it, Israel’s security is not forfeited but enhanced,” he said.
Blair added: “Learn from what we have done and do more. Even in Gaza. Gilad Shalit’s captivity is a disgrace. He should be released forthwith. Ordinary Gazans, many of whom are opposed to Hamas, should have clean water and sanitation; that legitimate people not the tunnel merchants can do business; that the children, half the population there, get the care they need. This I ask of Israel.”
Referring to the Palestinians, he said: “There can be no ambiguity, no wavering, no half-heart towards terrorism. It is totally and completely without justification and we will never compromise in our opposition to it or those that practice it.”
Clinton had a similar message Monday, telling AIPAC that provocative Israeli land policies in areas claimed by the Palestinians were not in Israel’s long-term interests and undermined U.S. credibility as a mediator in the Mideast peace process.
Related News:
- Medicare delays blamed on Christmas shutdown
- RBS Chairman Warns Of Euro Split In 2012
- IMF Warns Of Double-Dip Recession Risk
- S. Florida upsets Notre Dame after long delays
- Autism treatment delays concern family
- NFL delays supplemental draft; no call on Pryor
- Foreign physician files complaint over delays
- Cable Warns Of More Economic ‘Pain’ Ahead
- Square Enix delays Dungeon Siege III, to release in June
- Leading Investor Warns Over Irish Crisis
Details :
Submited at Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010 at 7:00 pm on Politics by jessica
Comment RSS 2.0 - leave a comment - trackback