Israeli ministry wages settlement war against U.S.

[IndianaGreen]

The choice is simple: choose the settlements or choose President Obama's peace initiative, or to put it another way, choose endless war or lasting peace.

Last update - 04:12 08/06/2009

Israeli ministry wages settlement war against U.S.

By Mazal Mualem

Interior Minister Eli Yishai on Sunday began to make good on a pledge that he would exploit all the resources of the Interior Ministry, "its branches and its influences over local government" to expand settlements in the territories.

Yishai, who is also chairman of Shas, made the promise last Thursday to the heads of the Yesha Council of settlements. His party is concerned by the freeze on construction that has been in effect since Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took office, which Yishai said is "drying out" the settlements.

Haaretz has learned that Yishai has instructed officials at the Interior Ministry to come up with ways to help the settlers, by allowing continued construction within the major West Bank settlement blocs where building has stopped as a result of American pressure.

Yishai wants to include additional built-up areas within the city limits of towns in the major settlement blocs, effectively expanding those cities' boundaries. Adjustment of the city limits, which is within the purview of the Interior Ministry, can mean the addition of several square kilometers to a locale's jurisdiction - or the subtraction of said amount of land.

Yishai thus plans to ensure that city limits will be calculated in as liberal a way as possible, so that construction can eventually take place in the few additional square kilometers, to accommodate the "natural increase" of the population.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1091163.html

[azurnoir]

1. Yishais move reminds me of the Republicans move to

redraw congressional districts to give themselves a greater advantage.
As for Israel giving up the settlements I do not see it happening, Israel has already shown that it will withstand low level conflict that costs it very little in terms of lives and property to maintain its colonies.

[galvatron]

7. I am not surprised at all

Obama will need a strong united democratic party to keep Ben at bay.

[Hannalee]

2. Hello

It is not the Israeli people or their government that wish to wage war on anyone. Israel's existance and way of life are threatened by many hostile forces.

The liberal response is to embrace those, such as the Israelis, who practice democracy and desire peace with their neighbors.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

3. To claim that Israelis desire peace with their neighbours is laughable.

Israel is conducting an ongoing military occupation of the Palestinians' land, impoverishing them and killing hundreds upon hundreds of them every year.

Moreover, this is not the action of a non-representative government - at the last election, pro-peace parties took less than 20 seats and unambiguously anti-peace parties more than 80, with the balance being made up by the debateable Labour party (once arguably dovish, but now led by hawks).

[azurnoir]

4. While I agree with what your saying

the poster your addressing was TSed after 5 posts

[IndianaGreen]

5. Hannalee may have been a previously banned DUer

Mods are pretty good at catching that.

[excess_3]

6. a third choice, the settlements will push the Arabs out

with high land prices