EU Slaps Down Netanyahu Government as Europe Condemns Israel’s Misleading

Israel has approved expropriation of 380 acres of West Bank agricultural lands south of the Palestinian city of Jericho, Israel’s Army Radio reported Wednesday.

“These most recent Israeli crackdowns have forced us to be out of work for months to come, which affects our livelihood and our ability to raise our families”, Swaiti said. “Settlement activities are a violation of global law and run counter to the public pronouncements of the Government of Israel supporting a two-state solution to the conflict”.

Ministers reiterated the EU’s position that the lands Israel has occupied since the 1967 Middle East war – including the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights – are not part of the internationally recognized borders of Israel. The United States views the communities as “illegitimate” and an impediment to a peace deal with the Palestinians, who want the same land for a future state. The EU has been straightforward in opposing Israeli settlement growth in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, a policy seen as illegal by most of the world.

The U.S.is steadfast in its support for Israel but also must call Israel out on its errors, Shapiro said.

Meanwhile, he said, “nearly all of Area C, which compromises 60 percent of the West Bank, is effectively restricted for any Palestinian development”.

“The words of the ambassador, on a day in which a murdered mother of six is buried and on a day in which a pregnant woman is stabbed, are unacceptable and incorrect”, the prime minister said in a statement.

According to the report, which cites examples of foreign firms linked to settlements, including cement and real estate companies, “Israel’s privileged treatment of settlers extends to virtually every aspect of life in the West Bank”.

The Israeli human-rights group Yesh Din said Shapiro’s comments were grounded in data showing that in 85 percent of investigations into ideologically motivated crimes by Israelis against Palestinians, Israeli police close the case, citing insufficient evidence or inability to locate suspects.

Sunday’s killing and another stabbing of a pregnant woman inside an Israeli settlement on Monday further boosted tensions after months of unrest, raising fears of an escalation in violence as well as a harsh Israeli crackdown on Palestinians.

In an email sent to Reuters, COGAT, a unit of Israel’s Defence Ministry, said the political decision to seize the territory had already been taken and “the lands are in the final stages of being declared state lands”.

According to the report, Israeli and global businesses have helped build, finance, service and market settlement communities.

“The EU and its member States are committed to ensure continued, full and effective implementation of existing EU legislation and bilateral arrangements applicable to settlements products”, it said.