PALESTINIAN LEADERS say Israeli plans to construct more than 600 new homes in east Jerusalem prove that Israel does not want to resume peace talks.
With US officials desperately trying to come up with a formula to get the sides back to the negotiating table, Wednesday’s decision by the Jerusalem planning committee approving 625 homes for a new neighbourhood in a disputed area of Jerusalem was a further setback to the already dim peace prospects.
Nabil Abu Rdainah, spokesman for Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, said this was an Israeli signal they were not interested in ending the deadlock. “It looks like this is an Israeli message to the Palestinians and the Americans that they are refusing any deal resuming the negotiations.”
The Palestinians have said they will only resume direct peace talks if Israel commits to a further moratorium on settlement construction, including east Jerusalem. Settlement construction resumed at the end of September following a 10-month freeze.
Two weeks ago, after lengthy talks in New York between US secretary of state Hilary Clinton and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, it was announced a breakthrough had been reached involving a new, 90-day settlement freeze in return for a package of US gestures, including the delivery to Israel of 20 state-of-the art F-35 fighter jets.
However, Mr Netanyahu, who faced stiff opposition from within his government to another freeze, demanded written commitments from Washington, including promises the three-month moratorium would be the last, and that building could continue throughout Jerusalem.
The Palestinians were angry over these clauses and Israel is still waiting for the written guarantees.
Yesterday, Mr Abbas held talks with a local US official but no breakthrough was reported.
The new neighbourhood is planned to be built close to Pisgat Ze’ev, an existing Jerusalem neighbourhood constructed on West Bank land Israel annexed immediately after the 1967 war. Israel declared the whole of Jerusalem as its “eternal, unified capital”, but the Palestinians seek the eastern areas of the city as the capital of a future independent state.
Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said Israel has again chosen settlements over peace: “It’s time for the American administration to tell the world that Israel holds the responsibility for the collapse of this peace process.”