Israel and the West Bank: Prepare to freeze
THE Israeli government’s approval this week of 455 new housing units in the West Bank settlements was announced with a wink and a nod, and seems to have elicited winks and nods all round. Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, is expected soon to agree, reluctantly and under American pressure, to a temporary freeze on settlement building, and the new homes are widely seen as an act of face-saving political expediency on his part. Full Story »
Posted by Derek Hawkins
The issue of settlements has been an ongoing issue since 1967 maybe even before. It is a very sore point to the Arab and especially the Palestinians. But every time there is to be some negotiations it is the Israelis who ask or demand the Palestinians to give up something or do something before negotiations can begin. It is time for the US and other nations to withhold aid to Israel until settlements have ceased completely and cease all the rhetoric since Israel is always under some stage of settlement.