Germany and the three other West European members of the U.N. Security Council are preparing a statement condemning Israel’s latest settlement plans in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, two European diplomatic officials said Tuesday.
Meanwhile the United States slammed Israel for continuing to announce new settlement construction on land claimed by the Palestinians in an unusually rare and blunt criticism of its top Mideast ally.
The State Department accused Israel on Tuesday of engaging in a “pattern of provocative action” that runs counter to statements from Israeli leaders that they are committed to peace. Spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said settlement activity only puts the goal of peace “further at risk.” She urged both Israel and the Palestinians to halt all provocations and take steps to revive long-stalled peace talks.
Permanent council members Britain and France plus Germany and Portugal — who are wrapping up two-year terms — are concerned that such settlements could threaten a possible two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians, the officials said. Details of the statement are being finalized in New York, the diplomats said on condition of anonymity because the work was not yet completed.
The European Union, Israel’s biggest trading partner, has been increasingly vocal in its criticism of new settlements just as Israel is gearing up for general elections next month. In an unprecedented move, a string of European governments summoned their local Israeli ambassadors to lodge protests following the Israeli settlement announcements.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been unshaken by the criticism, and on Tuesday he vowed to continue building in east Jerusalem. “Jerusalem is the eternal capital of the state of Israel, and we will continue to build there. A united Jerusalem expresses a wide national agreement,” he said in the northern Israeli town of Acre.
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