20,000 settler homes started in decade of Netanyahu rule: NGO

719

JERUSALEM, May 14, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Israel has begun building nearly 20,000
settler homes in the occupied West Bank during the past decade of Benjamin
Netanyahu’s premiership, settlement watchdog Peace Now said Tuesday.

The group’s annual settlement report highlighted how the issue complicates
the chances of resolving the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

It said that construction of 19,346 settler homes had started between 2009
— the year that Netanyahu became prime minister for a second time — and the
end of 2018.

“The Israeli government is digging the country a pit to fall in,” said a
Peace Now statement accompanying the report.

“Even if the government does not believe that peace can be achieved in the
near future, there is no logic to expanding the settlements and making the
solution impossible.”

The report was published as Netanyahu was on track to begin a fifth term
after April’s general election and the White House prepared to unveil a peace
proposal it has been working on for months.

Details have been kept under wraps but given US President Donald Trump’s
close alliance with Netanyahu it is unlikely to call for widespread
dismantlement of settlements.

Settlement is illegal under international law but has been pursued by
every Israeli government since the Jewish state occupied the West Bank in the
1967 Six Day war.

It is widely considered by the international community to be an obstacle
to peace and flies in the face of the core Palestinian demand for an
independent state alongside Israel.

To rally right-wing voters, Netanyahu said during his election campaign
that he would start annexing the West Bank settlements if he was returned to
power.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has declined to say if the United States
would oppose such a move.

Peace Now spokeswoman Hagit Ofran told AFP that a two-state solution could
demand the relocation of about 150,000 settlers.

Such a number would be a political impossibility for the right-wing
Netanyahu.

Based on aerial photos Peace Now’s survey said that 2,100 settler homes
were started in 2018. Its report for the previous year counted 2,783.

The reports do not include Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, the mainly
Palestinian sector of the city.

About 630,000 Israeli settlers live in the West Bank and east Jerusalem in
tense proximity to three million Palestinians.