Punish Israel for approving new settlement

Israeli Cabinet approved first Jewish settlement in West bank in 20 years, the latest blow to any peace prospect in Middle East. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was alarmed by Israel’s decision to build a new settlement. Guterres has consistently stressed that there was no Plan B for Israelis and Palestinians to live together in peace and security.
Israel announced building the new settlement a day after Arab leaders, who gathered for a one-day summit in Jordan, relaunched a peace plan that offers Tel Aviv full ties in exchange for Palestinian statehood, signaling to President Donald Trump that they are ready to engage if he tries to broker a broader Mideast peace. The Arab leaders said that “peace is a strategic option” for the Arab world, based on a two-state solution. The summit urged countries around the world not to move their diplomatic missions in Israel to contested Jerusalem. The Palestinians seek east Jerusalem, captured in 1967, as a future capital. The ‘message of peace’ will further erode Israel’s international standing.
More than 600,000 Israelis now live in settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem. But the building of new settler homes on the hilltop known as Geulat Zion, which was approved in a unanimous vote by cabinet, is the first full-fledged new settlement since the 1990s. The new settlement will be used to house families whose homes were cleared from unauthorized settlement outpost.
The new settlement is the reaction of the demolition of Amona, an illegal settler outpost that was cleared in February under the orders of Israel’s Supreme Court. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had vowed to build new settlement to compensate the residents of Amona. The new settlement would be built near the existing settlement of Shilo, which is nearby the Amona site. It also said the government had approved tenders to build 2,000 new apartments from previously approved settlement projects. The Palestinians and the international community, including United States, call the settlements illegal. They consider the settlement obstacles to peace because they gobble up territory where the Palestinians seek to establish their state.
Although the White House refrained from specific condemnation, it said that further settlement activity ‘does not help advance peace’ and that it expects Israel to show restraint moving forward. The lukewarm response was a far cry from the automatic condemnations voiced by the Obama’s administration in reaction to Israeli settlement announcements. As a presidential candidate, Trump made no mention of an independent Palestinian state. He had indicated that he would be more sympathetic to Israel than Obama administration, and his inner circle includes strong supporters of the settlement movement. But after assuming office, Trump has appeared to change his position. He said that settlements ‘may not be helpful’ and told Netanyahu during their meeting at the White House that he would like to see some restraint.
But the announcement of the new settlement once again proves that Israel is more committed to appeasing its illegal settler population than to a just peace. The international community must work together to stop Israel from its unlawful settlement activities and illegal unilateralism once and for all.