PALESTINIANS WARNED yesterday that Israel’s construction of a new settlement in the disputed West Bank will jeopardize efforts to renew peace talks.
Settlement leaders denied that the issuing of tenders for 20 homes in the Jordan Valley community of Maskiot, in the northern West Bank, was timed to coincide with the White House talks between US president Barack Obama and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Local council head David Elhayani told Army Radio that the construction was legal. “There is a consensus within the Zionist parties that the Jordan Valley must remain under Israeli control in any agreement that may be reached,” he said.
But Nabil Abu Rudeinah, an aide to Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, called the plans an “Israeli provocation” that will harm US efforts to breathe new life into the stalled peace process.
“The Palestinian position is clear,” Abu Rudeinah said. “There will be no resumption of peace talks as long as settlement building continues.” Ten families, formerly Gaza Strip settlers, currently live at Maskiot.
The site, just west of the Biblical river Jordan, served as a military outpost until July 2008, when defence minister Ehud Barak gave the green light for the 50 families to set up the first new settlement in the Jordan Valley for 26 years.
Building plans were put on hold following criticism from the Bush administration, until Sunday, when building contractors toured the site.
The Israeli Peace Now group, which spearheads the campaign within Israel against settlement construction, said the move was timed to send a message to the Obama administration.
Peace Now secretary-general Yariv Oppenheimer said it was clear that Mr Netanyahu does not intend to commit to the two-state solution. “His policy is to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state for years to come. The way to do this is to build settlements,” Mr Oppenheimer said.
Officials from the Obama administration have already made it clear that they want settlement activity curbed.