Brussels, 22/10/2012 (Agence Europe) - On Friday 19 November, the High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Catherine Ashton, said that she “deeply regrets” the decision of the Israeli Ministry of the Interior to approve the expansion of the settlement of Gilo, by 797 new housing units. “The EU has repeatedly urged the Government of Israel to immediately end all settlement activities in the West Bank, including in East Jerusalem”, states a press release pointing out that settlements are illegal and threaten to make a two-state solution impossible. “The European Union maintains that negotiations continue to represent the best way forward in resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Continuous expansion of settlements makes this all the more difficult”, the High Representative explains. In 2011 and 2012, Ashton repeatedly expressed her “profound disappointment” at the expansion of the neighbouring settlement of Har Homa. “Together these developments continue the process of separating East Jerusalem from the rest of the occupied Palestinian territory”, the press release reads.
The French Foreign Affairs Ministry has also condemned the authorisation by the Israeli Ministry of these new housing units, calling on the Israeli authorities to “revoke this decision and abstain from any measure aiming to extend and continue colonisation”. “By allowing the perimeter of the settlement to be extended, this decision constitutes a provocation, in an already tense situation”, the ministry states in a press release.
Israel denounces lack of knowledge of local situation
This latest European condemnation of settlement has led to a reaction by Israel, with Ashton due to meet the President of the Hebrew State Shimon Peres, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Ehud Barak in Jerusalem on 24 October.
On 20 October, the Israeli foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, said that the High Representative “lacks awareness of the reality”. “These automatic condemnations indicate a lack of basic knowledge of the reality in the region ... (Gilo) is an inseparable part of Jerusalem, and Jerusalem is an inseparable part of Israel”, the minister explained in a press release. He added that “the EU should focus on the problems arising between the various nations on European soil. Once these problems are resolved, we will be happy to hear other suggestions for a solution to our problems with the Palestinians”.
On 21 October, Netanyahou told a weekly meeting with his government that “we are not imposing any restrictions on building in Jerusalem. It is our capital”. (CG/transl.fl)