BICOM

Israel’s Prime Minister’s Office said yesterday that there would be no change to the government’s decision regarding construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem despite international pressure.

On Friday, Israel’s government announced a decision to build 3,000 housing units in large existing West Bank blocs and East Jerusalem and said that Israel would go ahead with planning and zoning work in the E1 area, which is considered particularly important to the territorial contiguity of a future Palestinian state. Israeli officials said that further steps would depend on Palestinian actions, and that if the Palestinians continued with one-sided actions, Israel would act similarly.

The announcement has been criticised by the United States and European countries with Israeli ambassadors formally rebuked yesterday by five European governments. The Israeli government countered that the construction decision was a natural response to Thursday’s United Nations General Assembly vote that recognised the Palestinian delegation as representing a ‘non-member state.’

Israel’s Prime Minister’s Office released a statement yesterday saying, “The Palestinian unilateral moves at the UN are a blatant and fundamental violation of agreements to which the international community was a guarantor… No one should be surprised that Israel is not sitting with its arms folded in response to the unilateral Palestinian steps.” The statement made clear that the Israeli government does not intend to rescind its decision over construction, saying it will “continue to stand up for its vital interests even in the face of international pressure.”

However, opponents of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s government were critical of its actions. Tzipi Livni, leader of the new Hatnuah party said, “This decision isolates Israel, encourages international pressure and will not be implemented anyway,” while during a trip to Washington former-prime minister Ehud Olmert called the decision “the worst slap in the face of a US president.” Former-defence minister and senior Labour Party MK Binyamin Ben-Eliezer called it a “badly timed decision” that “can lead Israel to international isolation.”