Spoke the dreaded words but didn’t accept the principle…yet anyway.
This appears to be the attitude of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after his recent trip to the US.
After being told by President Obama – arguably his new line manager – not to build any more settlements or outposts on Palestinian land, Mr Netanyahu used the dreaded words for the first time… “Palestinian State”.
Well to be clear what he is actually reported to have said is:
“clearly we need to have some reservations about a Palestinian state in a final status agreement... when we reach an agreement on substance, we will reach agreement on terminology".
He went on to point out that any future Palestinian State must not pose any threat to Israel. Quite rich all the same, when Israel’s military occupation of Palestinian territories continues.
Strictly obeying President Obama’s instructions he now agrees no more settlements will be built…but on the same day says he will not take measures to control existing settlement growth or stop construction within them. It seems inch by inch occupation will do for now.
Still you can only hope that the Netanyahu Government is sincere when they say they will now remove the illegal outposts in the West Bank. Interestingly the Israeli state acknowledges these settler-built outposts as illegal, yet they have failed to fulfill their 2003 ‘Roadmap’ commitment to remove them.
I notice one was removed this week in Maoz Esther, in the West Bank, following Netanyahu’s trip to meet Obama… Funny that.
Still let’s hope it’s not just a token gesture.
With Obama reiterating his public support for a Palestinian state, there is sure to be pressure building on Netanyahu already. Only in the job from March but for a second period, I can only hope there is a drastic change in Israeli policy to the Palestinians… but with shootings again occurring over the last few days and his previous positions relating to Palestine, this interested individual isn’t holding their breath.
1 comment:
Thanks for ur interesting blog Hamas and fatah security forces uniting again is a great development too onwords to Irish and palestinian Independence
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