A general view shows the Israeli settlement of Ramot in an area of the occupied West Bank that Israel annexed to Jerusalem January 22, 2017. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany, in unusually strong criticism of Israel, said on Wednesday plans to build 2,500 more settlement homes in the Israeli-occupied West Bank put in doubt Israel’s stated commitment to a two-state solution with the Palestinians.
Israel announced the plans on Tuesday in the second such declaration since U.S. President Donald Trump took office signaling he could be more accommodating toward such projects than his predecessor Barack Obama.
Martin Schaefer, a spokesman for the German Foreign Ministry, said the announcement went “beyond what we have seen on it in the last few months both in terms of its scale and its political significance”.
He said the German government doubted whether the Israeli government still stood by its official goal of a peace agreement under which Palestinians would get a state in territory now occupied by Israel and co-exist peacefully with it.
If Israel were to move away from this goal, the basis of the whole Middle East peace process would be thrown into question, Schaefer added. The last round of U.S.-brokered peace talks collapsed in 2014.
The European Union has also warned that Israel’s settlement plans threaten to undermine the chances of peace with the Palestinians.
Germany went to great lengths to make amends for the Nazi era genocide of Jews, including establishing strong relations with Israel, which now considers Germany to be among its most important European allies.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told parliament on Wednesday to expect more announcements on settlement-building and earlier this week told senior ministers that there were no more restrictions on construction.
“We can build where we want and as much as we want,” an official quoted Netanyahu as telling the ministers.
Most countries consider settlements illegal and an obstacle to Israeli-Palestinian peace, as they reduce and fragment the territory Palestinians need for a viable state.
Israel disagrees, citing biblical, historical and political connections to the land – which the Palestinians also assert – as well as security interests.
(Reporting by Andreas Rinke in Berlin and Ori Lewis in Jerusalem; writing by Michelle Martin; editing by Mark Heinrich)
No other country in an part of.the world including America would put up with what Isreal has had to endure, with bombs and the attacks made upon its citizens. When Israel defends herself , it is looked upon as a crime by the UN, and other countries. Surly Palestine remembers they started the 7 day war and lost. If it had not been the kindness of Israel, there would be no dome for their use. Get over it, act like you do want peace Palestine. Stop expecting Israel to do what yourselves would not do.
Would Israel care if Germany decided to build more homes in their capital? Of course not. Israel belongs to the Jewish people. It always belonged to the Jewish people. Israel has every right to build homes for all the people moving to Jerusalem or for that matter anywhere else they would want to build. Can you imagine Germany or Israel or any other country telling the U.S. that you cannot build any new homes in Washington, DC or any other state? No where in the Koran does it say that Jerusalem will be there capital? If people would only realize and see that these people only want one thing and that is to wipe Israel off the map and kill all the jewish people. We are Jewish and Israel belongs to my people. God gave Abraham and His decendents all the land of Israel forever and ever, These people want war and we want peace. All we can really do is pray for these people that the scales will be removed from their eyes and see the truth that Israel belongs to the JEWISH people, both now and forevermore…amen