Israel has lifted a ban on settlers returning to areas of the West Bank evacuated by law 18 years ago.

Four settlements in the northern West Bank had been evacuated as part of the 2005 disengagement law, under which Israel also withdrew from Gaza, razing all 21 Jewish settlements in the coastal strip.

Right-wing lawmakers have been pushing to repeal the move for years. Settlers established an illegal presence in Homesh, one of the four communities, by setting up a yeshiva religious seminary in caravans and tents. A game of cat and mouse has taken place between the army and settlers, and troops have dismantled the yeshiva several times over the years only for the settlers to return.

Continue reading HERE

Source: https://www.irishtimes.com/world/middle-east/2023/03/21/israel-lifts-ban-on-settlers-returning-to-evacuated-west-bank-settlements/

__________________________________________________________________

[Disclaimer]

The post Israel lifts ban on settlers returning to evacuated West Bank settlements first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

The UN Security Council on Wednesday overwhelmingly opposed the recent US policy shift on Israeli settlements.

Settlement policy is one of the most contentious issues in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Most of the international community views Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories as illegal — a view that Israel disputes.

“Unilateral moves fuel anger and disillusionment and significantly undermine the prospects for establishing a contiguous and viable Palestinian state with Jerusalem as the future capital of both states,” said Nickolay Mladenov, UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process.

The council’s monthly meeting on the Middle East came just two days after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the US would no longer consider Israeli settlements to be a violation of international law, reversing US policy consensus that lasted four decades.

Fourteen of the 15 countries seated at the security council rejected the US measure.

US stands by decision

Cherith Norman Chalet, a deputy US ambassador to the UN said her country “remains committed to the cause of peace,” and that Monday’s announcement “does not alter this fact.”

“The US government is expressing no view on the particular legal status of any individual settlement, nor are we addressing or prejudging the ultimate status of the West Bank, that is for Israelis and Palestinians to decide,” Chalet added.

Read more: Opinion: Power overrules the law — especially in Middle East politics

Mladenov opened the council meeting expressing ”regret” over the US decision and reiterating a December 2016 UN council resolution were ”a flagrant violation under international law.”

Prior to the meeting, the UK, France, Germany, Belgium and Poland also released a joint statement calling on Israel ”to end all settlement activity, in line with its obligations as an occupying power,” saying such activity ”erodes the viability of the two-state solution and the prospects for a lasting peace.”

Israeli and Palestinian delegates weigh in

Israel’s UN ambassador, Danny Danon, who is not a council member, was the lone vocal supporter of the US decision, saying it ”rights a historical wrong.”

Danon said criticism of the move represented an ”obstacle to peace” that is ”preventing direct negotiations” between Israelis and Palestinians.

The chief Palestinian delegate at the UN, Riyad Mansour, was also at the meeting and took a jab at the US decision, saying Donald Trump’s administration had again made “another illegal announcement on Israeli settlements in order to sabotage any chance to achieve peace, security, and stability.”

Trump has made a series of pro-Israeli policy moves, which are popular with evangelical Christians in the US, an important part of his political base. It has also brought the US close to the Israeli government. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is a close ally of Trump.

Read More: Pompeo Issues Historic Policy Reversal: Israeli West Bank Settlements ‘Not Illegal’

jcg/stb (Reuters, AP)

Source: https://www.dw.com/en/un-security-council-rebukes-us-on-israeli-settlements/a-51342147

The post UN Security Council rebukes US on Israeli settlements first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

“After carefully studying all sides of the legal debate, this administration agrees with President Reagan,” Pompeo said in reference to Reagan’s view that settlements were not inherently illegal. “The establishment of Israeli civilian settlements in the West Bank is not per se inconsistent with international law,” Pompeo said.

“The Trump administration is reversing the Obama administration’s approach towards Israeli settlements. U.S. public statements on settlement activities in the West Bank have been inconsistent over decades.”

This came after the State Department’s legal office was ordered to conduct a year-long review of the official US policy on the expanding settlements in the West Bank, according to The Jerusalem Post.

This will further widen the gap on the issue between Washington its own European allies and international institutions, and among most UN members, given the US already often votes alone over and against much of the world on Israeli-Palestine related issues.

The EU court, for example, earlier this month moved to require all EU countries to specially label any product made in illegal Israeli West Bank settlements, something US Congressional leaders are attempting to lobby EU officials against, according to reports.

“In 1978, the Carter administration categorically concluded that Israel’s establishment of civilian settlements was inconsistent with international law,” Pompeo explained. “However, in 1981, President Reagan disagreed with that conclusion and stated that he didn’t believe that the settlements were inherently illegal.”

“The hard truth is that there will never be a judicial resolution to the conflict and arguments about who is right and who is wrong as a matter of international law will not bring peace,” Pompeo said further.

“This is a complex political problem that can only be solved by negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians,” America’s top diplomat added.

It will also likely inflame tensions and protests in Gaza and the West Bank, after last year the US moved its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and controversially issued formal recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

Read More: UN Security Council rebukes US on Israeli settlements

Source: https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/pompeo-issues-major-us-policy-reversal-west-bank-settlements-not-illegal

The post Pompeo Issues Historic Policy Reversal: Israeli West Bank Settlements ‘Not Illegal’ first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.