Today, the Israelian Interior Minister Eli Yishai declared that he plans to expand the constructions all over Israel. Those plans also include the Palestinian territories and even East-Jerusalem. “There is not and never has been a freeze on construction in Jerusalem, nor will there ever be”, said the minister to the newspaper HaAretz.
Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch went further. In a speech he held at a Knesset plenum this week, he stated that Israel will continue to destroy Arab settlements in East Jerusalem.He said that the demolishions have been postponed in the last months because of the negotiations between Israel and the USA. But they will be carried into execution in the near future.
Defense minister Ehud Barak assailed those ministers who may disturb the peace process between Israel and Palestine. “I recommend everyone, both we and the Palestinians, avoid rash and provocative statements,” he said. He stated that those comments do not only harm Israel’s relationship to the USA, but also Israel’s reputation in the international community.
The U.S. government pronounced a warning against Israel. Destroying the Arab settlements could harm the peace process in a way that no one can estimate. “Our policy on Jerusalem remains unchanged. The status of Jerusalem is an issue that should be resolved in permanent status negotiations between the parties. This underlines the importance of making progress in the proximity talks to enable the parties to move to direct negotiations that will resolve this and other issues once and for all,” said the U.S. official.
Hadivorah's Blog 