Israeli plans for 1,400 settler homes ‘threat to peace talks’, say Palestinians

Palestinian officials have warned that Israeli plans unveiled yesterday to build 1,400 settler homes are a signal to US secretary of state John Kerry not to continue with his push for Middle East peace.

“The new settlement construction plan is a message from Netanyahu to Kerry not to come back to the region to continue his efforts in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks,” said Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator.

“The announcement of yet more settlement units at this particular moment is a test for the US administration’s ability to hold Israel accountable for actively sabotaging their efforts for peace.”

Israel’s housing ministry said tenders would be issued for 800 new homes in West Bank Jewish settlements and 600 homes in east Jerusalem neighbourhoods built beyond the 1967 green line border.

Prisoner release
The move came despite requests from the US and EU to refrain from further settlement expansion. However, the announcement had been expected after Israel released 26 Palestinian prisoners last month, as part of a deal made last summer to renew bilateral negotiations with the Palestinians.

Prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu had announced similar settlement building to coincide with the first two prisoner releases, but yesterday’s announcement was delayed in order not to embarrass Mr Kerry , who was in the region last week for peace talks.

In mid-December the EU asked Israel not to announce any new settlement construction following the Palestinian prisoner release, warning that Jerusalem would be blamed for any resulting failure in the peace talks.

Yesterday’s announcement was criticised by Mr Netanyahu’s centrist coalition partners.

Finance minister Yair Lapid, head of the Yesh Atid party, said these were not construction tenders, but rather construction announcements that were meaningless.

He said this was a bad idea and that Yesh Atid would do everything it could to ensure it remain only a bad idea, and not be implemented.

Peace Now, the anti-settlement NGO, said that since peace talks resumed, Israel had announced plans for 5,439 settlement homes. “These latest tenders could cause negotiations to break down and destroy Kerry’s efforts,” said Peace Now’s general secretary Yariv Oppenheimer.

Opinion poll
Meanwhile, the Ma'ariv newspaper has published a poll showing that 80 per cent of Israelis do not believe the negotiations currently being held will lead to a peace agreement with the Palestinians, versus 9 per cent who believe they will.

According to the same poll, when asked about an agreement that would keep the settlement blocs, a land swap, recognition of Israel as a Jewish state and a gradual withdrawal from the Jordan Valley, 53 per cent said they would oppose it versus 34 per cent who would support it.