The Israel-Palestine rift deepens

One day after the U.N. elevated Palestine to observer-state status, Israel advanced plans to build 3,000 new homes on contested land.

One day after the U.N. General Assembly voted last week to elevate Palestine to observer-state status, Israel advanced plans to build 3,000 new homes on contested land in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. “These activities set back the cause of a negotiated peace,” said Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, calling on Israel to shelve its plans. Israel’s announcement was seen as retaliation for the U.N.’s overwhelming endorsement of Palestine. The U.S. was one of only nine countries to stand with Israel, and Clinton said the administration would continue to “have Israel’s back.”

That uncritical stance “confirms America’s irrelevance” to resolving the Israel-Palestine conflict, said Henry Siegman in ForeignPolicy.com. It dooms President Obama’s efforts to renew peace talks as an “empty and purposeless exercise.” Unless the U.S. demands that Israel accept its pre-1967 borders as a starting point, negotiations have “no prospect of producing anything other than cover for Israel’s continuing predatory colonial behavior.”

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us