It is hard to imagine that anyone in Israel is surprised by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu once again backing down from his announced planned E1 construction. E1 is the area between Maale Adumim and Yerushalayim and while Netanyahu has repeatedly announced he will move ahead with planned construction, he continues to back down amid US and EU threats of sanctions.
In addition to opposing construction in an area view as “Israeli occupied”, E1 has significant strategic importance to the PA (Palestinian Authority) for the latter hopes to construct a road that will connect between PA autonomous areas in Yehuda to the Shomron areas.
In this latest announcement Israel said 1,200 new housing units would be built in E1. That was short lived. The 1,200 units are part of the tender for 20,000 housing units announced by Housing Minister (Bayit Yehudi) Uri Ariel. The prime minister has publically censured Ariel for the announced tenders, which was not coordinated with the Prime Minister’s Office, PMO officials report. That statement came in response to ardent US objections to the announced tenders. The US Department of State released statements clarifying its objections to “continued building in the settlements”.
Maariv reports that Peace Now is behind the American pressure as activists of the left-wing organization in Israel met with US and French diplomatic officials in Jerusalem to provide them with details of the various construction tenders in objectionable areas.
In response, the prime minister informed Cabinet Secretary Avichai Mandelblit to inform Minister Ariel to place the E1 building plans on hold again.
PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) did not waste any time and the moment he heard of new Israeli construction tenders he announced such a move would lead to an abrupt end to ongoing negotiations. The Israeli left is in its usual hysterics mode, warning if talks collapse it could lead to a Third Intifada.
Security experts announce this is simply not so and a collapse in the talks would not lead to a renewed PA violent uprising.
The right-wing however views the situation differently, warning the ongoing talks have resulted in a new wave of terror throughout Yehuda and Shomron, which led to the Tuesday morning fatal stabbing of an IDF soldier HY”D on a bus in the Afula Central Bus station.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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4 Responses
I understand that Bibi Netanyahu was recently sighted while waiting for an x-ray at his local kupat cholim. The possible diagnosis was “absentis narum,” which is Latin for “missing backbone.”
Keep your eyes on the prize, which is Iran. Bibi is now standing totally alone against the great world powers, at a critical moment for Israel. If the proposed deal goes through, Israel will have no option but to attack Iran — soon — and there will probably be R”L thousands of people killed in the ensuing war, which will probably come to these shores as well. Now that it’s clear Obama is as truthful about stopping Iran as he was about healthcare and Syria, Bibi is desperately doing everything he can to beg, bribe, deal, etc in order to scuttle the deal. Bibi now has to count on others who have not been our biggest supporters, like France. Do you think it was smart to pick davka this moment to announce 20,000 new units, when the international reaction was predictable? This was a short-sighted and very stupid stunt by minister Ariel for domestic political gain, even if we have every right to build in Yesha. Bibi needs and deserves all the support he can get right now. If you can’t help him, at least don’t torpedo his efforts. Easy to make fun and wax eloquently in Latin, but more important to be smart.
In other words, Bibi is one big liar. Who in their right mind would still trust him? Wasn’t constuction the deal when he released the terrorists with blood on their hands? What do Bennett’s voters have to say about this?
after all, Bibi get’s big $$$$ from the US and he must listen to Washington if he likes it or not