Britannia Radio

PM: No new settlements, but natural growth will be answered

May. 24, 2009
JPost.com Staff , THE JERUSALEM POST

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, left, listens to cabinet Secretary Zvi Hauzer during the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem Sunday.

Amid a flurry of comments among politicians regarding the possible evacuation of numerous illegal outposts in the West Bank, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu vowed on Sunday not to build new settlements while assuring that "natural expansion" will not go unanswered.

"We are obliged to protect the law," he said during the weekly cabinet meeting. "We won't establish new settlements, but there is no logic in not providing an answer to natural expansion."

Prior to the meeting, Defense Minister Ehud Barak said that nearly two dozen illegal outposts in the West Bank will be dismantled, with force if necessary.

"There are 26 illegal outposts - declared as such by the Talia Sasson Commission - which the [Ariel Sharon] government promised the Americans would be evacuated," he told ministers. "But this isn't the issue between us and the Americans, and us and the Palestinians, rather first and foremost between us and ourselves."

"This is an issue of the rule of law in the state, and the authority of the law over its citizens," Barak continued. "We have evacuated three outposts, come to an understanding with another, and have not allowed any addition outposts to be constructed."

"The 22 additional outposts must be taken care of now, and in a responsible and correct way," the defense minister said. "First through trying to work something out with negotiations, and if that's not possible, through unilateral means, including the use of force."

 

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman talks to journalists prior to the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, Sunday.

Before Barak made his remarks, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman emphasized his opposition to unilaterally dismantling outposts in the West Bank, and said that such a move should be part of the greater peace process which inevitably would require equivalent action from the Palestinians.

"One needs to understand that a return to the '67 borders with today's circumstances won't end the conflict and won't bring security and peace, but rather will transfer the conflict to within the '67 borders," he said.

"This cannot be an individual initiative," Lieberman continued. "There is no point in unveiling another plan, the correct outline is the Road Map, in stages."

"Even if we will have to evacuate this outpost or another, we will do so, but it must be part of a bigger picture," he said.

Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz also spoke against possible evacuations, telling ministers during the meeting that Israel "cannot let the agenda be seen as a hunting expedition against settlements in the West Bank."

Earlier, Israel Radio reported that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu promised Defense Minister Ehud Barak his full support on any decision made to evacuate illegal outposts in the West Bank.

According to the report, Netanyahu made the comments while briefing Barak and President Shimon Peres last Thursday on the visit to Washington and his meeting with President Barack Obama and other senior US officials.

AP contributed to this report.

This article can also be read at http://www.jpost.com /servlet/Satellite?cid=1242212451798&pagename=JPArticle%2FShowFull

=========================

'Israel won't yield to U.S. demands, won't halt settlement construction'
By Haaertz Service Last update - 20:18 23/05/2009
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1087541.html

Strategic Affairs Minister Moshe Ya'alon spoke to Channel 2 on Saturday
about the meeting between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S.
President Barack Obama, held earlier this week, saying that Israel's
government will not allow the U.S. to dictate its policy, and that
"settlement construction will not be halted."

"Settlements are not the reason that the peace process is failing, they were
never an obstacle, not at any stage," Ya'alon told Channel 2 News. "Even
when Israel pulled out of [Palestinian] territory, the terror continued.
Even when we uprooted [Jewish] communities, we got 'Hamastan.' That is why I
propose that we think about it - not in slogans and not with decrees."

According to Ayalon, "we will not halt the construction in the settlements
within the framework of natural growth. There are people here who are living
their lives, raising children. Housing is required ? it wasn't housing that
has prevented peace."

In reference to the illegal West Bank outposts, which Israel has vowed to
evacuate and has begun to do so, Ya'alon stressed that "the government will
not permit illegal settlement, as we've proven with our actions this week."

Some believe that the evacuation of the outpost of Maoz Esther on Thursday
morning, which came a day after Defense Ministry sources told Haaretz that
Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak had agreed on a plan to evacuate
illegal outposts in the West Bank, was carried out in accordance with U.S.
pressure. However, Barak denied any correlation between the Netanyahu-Obama
meeting on Monday, and the evacuation.

Ya'alon also addressed reports that the U.S. had upped its demands and was
trying to dictate Israel's next moves in the negotiations with the
Palestinians. "What the U.S. is asking is not a demand, we'll see whether
their declaration become actual demands," he said.

"[U.S. envoy to the Middle East George] Mitchell will come, and we'll talk
to him. I suggest that Israel and the U.S. don't set a timetable. We won't
let them threaten us," Ya'alon added.

"From the banks of the Potomac in Washington it is not always clear what the
real situation here is," Ya'alon concluded. "This is where Israel must step
in and help her ally understand the situation."

Ya'alon also criticized Israel, saying that "the Israeli discourse paints us
as hostile, the problem is within us."