DavidS
Anti-Tea Party Member
Israeli settlers reject Obama call to halt building | Reuters
JERUSALEM, May 19 (Reuters) - Jewish settler leaders on Tuesday shrugged off U.S. President Barack Obama's call for Israel to halt settlement building in the occupied West Bank, saying Palestinians needed to "halt terror first".
Dani Dayan, chairman of the West Bank settlers' umbrella organisation Yesha Council, said he felt assured that domestic political support would allow settlers to continue to live in the occupied West Bank.
"The Israeli electorate set a clear line for this government ... we have strong support in the new Knesset (parliament) and the things we hear among politicians certainly encourage us that if Netanyahu (halts settlement building) the Knesset will stand at our side," Dayan told Reuters.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met Obama for talks at the White House on Monday and the U.S. president afterwards reminded Israel of its commitment under a 2003 U.S.-backed peace "road map" to stop settlement building in the occupied West Bank.
"Obama's words were factually incorrect," Dayan said. He relied on the road map, but it does not impose on Israel to halt building in Judea and Samaria (the West Bank), because the Palestinians do not carry out their commitment, which comes beforehand, to stop terror."
About half a million Jews live in more than 100 settlements Israel has built on land Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war in the West Bank and Arab East Jerusalem, territory in which close to three million Palestinians live.
The United States and the European Union view all Jewish settlements in the West Bank as illegal under international law and as obstacles to peace.
JERUSALEM, May 19 (Reuters) - Jewish settler leaders on Tuesday shrugged off U.S. President Barack Obama's call for Israel to halt settlement building in the occupied West Bank, saying Palestinians needed to "halt terror first".
Dani Dayan, chairman of the West Bank settlers' umbrella organisation Yesha Council, said he felt assured that domestic political support would allow settlers to continue to live in the occupied West Bank.
"The Israeli electorate set a clear line for this government ... we have strong support in the new Knesset (parliament) and the things we hear among politicians certainly encourage us that if Netanyahu (halts settlement building) the Knesset will stand at our side," Dayan told Reuters.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met Obama for talks at the White House on Monday and the U.S. president afterwards reminded Israel of its commitment under a 2003 U.S.-backed peace "road map" to stop settlement building in the occupied West Bank.
"Obama's words were factually incorrect," Dayan said. He relied on the road map, but it does not impose on Israel to halt building in Judea and Samaria (the West Bank), because the Palestinians do not carry out their commitment, which comes beforehand, to stop terror."
About half a million Jews live in more than 100 settlements Israel has built on land Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war in the West Bank and Arab East Jerusalem, territory in which close to three million Palestinians live.
The United States and the European Union view all Jewish settlements in the West Bank as illegal under international law and as obstacles to peace.
