Israel rebuffs US call as Abbas meets Obama
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Daily News with wires
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Mayıs 29, 2009 00:00
JERUSALEM - Israel shrugs off a blunt US call for a halt to all Jewish settlement building on occupied Palestinian land, the latest sign Washington is hardening its tone towards its close ally. The surprising US call comes as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas meets President Barack Obama with the settlements in the West Bank topping the peace agenda.
Israel defied a surprisingly blunt U.S. demand that it freeze all building in West Bank Jewish settlements, saying yesterday it will press ahead with construction.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said late on Wednesday that President Barack Obama wants Israel to halt to all settlement construction - including "natural growth." She was referring to Israel's insistence that new construction is necessary to accommodate the expansion of families already living in existing settlements.
"He [Obama] wants to see a stop to settlements. Not some settlements, not outposts, not natural growth exceptions," she said. However, Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev responded by saying "normal life in those communities must be allowed to continue." He confirmed that this meant some construction will continue in existing settlements.
The fate of settlements "will be determined in final status negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians and in the interim, normal life must be allowed to continue in those communities," he added. Another senior Israeli official also played down the comments, saying Clinton "did nothing, but again express the differences that appeared during the May 18 meeting in Washington between Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu."
It was the clearest example yet of the rift emerging between the administration of Obama, who has vowed to vigorously pursue the peace process as part of a changed approach to the region, and Netanyahu, presiding over a hard-line gov’t largely opposed to many concessions. "The conflict with the Americans is not on its way, it's already here," Israeli public radio declared.
The new conflict with U.S. came on the same day Obama was to meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the White House. Hours before an evening meeting with Obama, Abbas has said the Palestinian demand for freezing settlements will be at the top of his agenda. Top officials traveling with Abbas said the Palestinian leader was working to repackage a 2002 Saudi Arabian plan that called for exchange of Arab land occupied by Israel in the 1967 war for normalized relations with Arab countries.
Abbas meets Obama
Obama's meeting with Abbas is the third of four key sessions the administration had planned as the president tries to reinvigorate the push for Middle East peace, an accord that has eluded American leaders, the Israelis and their Arab neighbors for more than a half century. Jordan's King Abdullah opened the round of visits by Mideast leaders on April 21. Talks with President Hosni Mubarak, originally scheduled for Tuesday, were postponed after the unexpected death of his grandson. The two leaders now plan to meet June 4 in Cairo, where Obama plans to deliver a major speech to the Muslim world. On his way to Egypt, Obama plans to meet next Wednesday in Saudi Arabia with King Abdullah.
Apparently realizing the difficulties he faces on a bilateral basis with Israel, Abbas will be trying to sell - with the help of Jordan's Abdullah, Egypt's Mubarak and Saudi Arabia's Abdullah - a more ambitious peace plan that would include benefits to Israel and the larger Arab world. Obama has appeared open to that approach, one that experts believe can be expanded and built upon given the growing fear of Iran that is shared by Israel and the Arabs.
Obama's administration has been more explicit in its criticism of Israeli settlement policy than its predecessor.
More than 280,000 settlers live among more than 2 million Palestinians in the West Bank. Netanyahu has said his cabinet would not build any new settlements, but vowed to continue building in existing blocs despite U.S. demands. "I have no intention to construct new settlements, but it makes no sense to ask us not to answer to the needs of natural growth and to stop all construction," he told the cabinet.
While Israel could flout U.S. opposition, it is wary of picking a fight with its closest and most important ally. Israeli officials offered a compromise earlier this week. In exchange for removing some 22 outposts, they would ask the U.S. to permit new construction in existing settlements. Clinton's remarks followed that offer. But even the limited step of removing outposts faces stiff opposition from the Israeli right. Settler news site Arutz Sheva said yesterday that leading rabbis linked to the settlement movement issued a call to soldiers to disobey orders to demolish the outposts.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said late on Wednesday that President Barack Obama wants Israel to halt to all settlement construction - including "natural growth." She was referring to Israel's insistence that new construction is necessary to accommodate the expansion of families already living in existing settlements.
"He [Obama] wants to see a stop to settlements. Not some settlements, not outposts, not natural growth exceptions," she said. However, Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev responded by saying "normal life in those communities must be allowed to continue." He confirmed that this meant some construction will continue in existing settlements.
The fate of settlements "will be determined in final status negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians and in the interim, normal life must be allowed to continue in those communities," he added. Another senior Israeli official also played down the comments, saying Clinton "did nothing, but again express the differences that appeared during the May 18 meeting in Washington between Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu."
It was the clearest example yet of the rift emerging between the administration of Obama, who has vowed to vigorously pursue the peace process as part of a changed approach to the region, and Netanyahu, presiding over a hard-line gov’t largely opposed to many concessions. "The conflict with the Americans is not on its way, it's already here," Israeli public radio declared.
The new conflict with U.S. came on the same day Obama was to meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the White House. Hours before an evening meeting with Obama, Abbas has said the Palestinian demand for freezing settlements will be at the top of his agenda. Top officials traveling with Abbas said the Palestinian leader was working to repackage a 2002 Saudi Arabian plan that called for exchange of Arab land occupied by Israel in the 1967 war for normalized relations with Arab countries.
Abbas meets Obama
Obama's meeting with Abbas is the third of four key sessions the administration had planned as the president tries to reinvigorate the push for Middle East peace, an accord that has eluded American leaders, the Israelis and their Arab neighbors for more than a half century. Jordan's King Abdullah opened the round of visits by Mideast leaders on April 21. Talks with President Hosni Mubarak, originally scheduled for Tuesday, were postponed after the unexpected death of his grandson. The two leaders now plan to meet June 4 in Cairo, where Obama plans to deliver a major speech to the Muslim world. On his way to Egypt, Obama plans to meet next Wednesday in Saudi Arabia with King Abdullah.
Apparently realizing the difficulties he faces on a bilateral basis with Israel, Abbas will be trying to sell - with the help of Jordan's Abdullah, Egypt's Mubarak and Saudi Arabia's Abdullah - a more ambitious peace plan that would include benefits to Israel and the larger Arab world. Obama has appeared open to that approach, one that experts believe can be expanded and built upon given the growing fear of Iran that is shared by Israel and the Arabs.
Obama's administration has been more explicit in its criticism of Israeli settlement policy than its predecessor.
More than 280,000 settlers live among more than 2 million Palestinians in the West Bank. Netanyahu has said his cabinet would not build any new settlements, but vowed to continue building in existing blocs despite U.S. demands. "I have no intention to construct new settlements, but it makes no sense to ask us not to answer to the needs of natural growth and to stop all construction," he told the cabinet.
While Israel could flout U.S. opposition, it is wary of picking a fight with its closest and most important ally. Israeli officials offered a compromise earlier this week. In exchange for removing some 22 outposts, they would ask the U.S. to permit new construction in existing settlements. Clinton's remarks followed that offer. But even the limited step of removing outposts faces stiff opposition from the Israeli right. Settler news site Arutz Sheva said yesterday that leading rabbis linked to the settlement movement issued a call to soldiers to disobey orders to demolish the outposts.