Settlement Issue Follows Netanyahu to Singapore, Australia

His visit to Australia this week will be the first for a serving Israeli Prime Minister.

Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman, also at the Munich conference, said he supported the creation of a Palestinian state. Israel has the monopoly to use force, both against Palestinian civilians and militants.

Meeting on Wednesday at the White House, Netanyahu and President Donald Trump each spoke of prospects of a regional Middle East understanding to end the stalemated Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“Mr. Netanyahu’s policies consistently aim to provoke, intimidate and oppress the Palestinian population”, it charged.

“The Australian Government needs to rethink its one-sided support for the Israeli Government. Not every issue needs to be immediately turned into a crisis”, he said. Eight years later, both are still in place, only weaker and even more intransigent than before.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop indicated the government would have split with the United States and New Zealand to vote against the resolution, if it now had a seat on the UN Security Council.

Since January 20, when Trump, an ardent supporter of Israel, took office, Tel Aviv has launched a major land grab drive in defiance of global calls to stop its settlement activities on occupied Palestinian lands.

Controversy has erupted over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s upcoming state visit to Australia, with a number of influential Aussies including members of the legal fraternity, clergy and former politicians opposing the trip.

More than 60 prominent Australians, including former Labor politicians, senior legal professionals and clergy, have signed a statement opposing Netanyahu’s visit because of his government’s policies towards Palestinians.

This year marks the centenary the Balfour Declaration, in which the British government voiced support for a Jewish homeland in the area known as Palestine.

Unlike previous U.S. administrations, successive Australian governments have rarely condemned Israel during the ongoing conflict with the Palestinians.

Netanyahu is expected to invite Turnbull to attend the centenary celebrations of the 1917 battle in Beer Sheva in October.

– Israel’s main exports to Australia are minerals, pearls and gems.

National Economic Council head Avi Simhon told journalists accompanying the prime minister that the fact Singapore is now willing to make the ties public is a testament to the importance it attributes to economic and security ties with Israel.

Citing unidentified senior officials in former U.S. President Barack Obama’s administration, Haaretz said Netanyahu, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Jordan’s King Abdullah and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry convened on February 21, 2016 in the Jordanian Red Sea resort of Aqaba.

In his joint news conference with Netanyahu, Trump raised the subject, but only gingerly, telling the Israeli leader, “I’d like to see you hold back on settlements for a little bit”.