The UN Security Council condemns the Israeli government’s retrospective approval of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank. “The Security Council reiterates that the continuation of Israeli settlement activities dangerously jeopardizes the viability of the two-state solution based on the lines of 1967,” said a statement unanimously adopted Monday by the 15 members of the most influential UN body.
The US ambassador to the UN, Israel’s chief protector, criticized the retroactive February 12 approval of nine outposts of Jewish settlements in the West Bank. This exacerbated tensions and damaged confidence. Other European and Arab states had previously strongly criticized the legalization of the settlements.
Israel conceded shortly before the vote
Despite widespread international protest, the government in Jerusalem relented shortly before the UN Security Council vote. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced on Monday that no further settlements would be allowed for the next few months.
Netanyahu’s cabinet, which has been in power since December, includes religious fundamentalists and ultra-nationalists who advocate for the expansion of Israeli territory into the West Bank. The United States and other Western countries see this as a threat to the two-state solution, which they say could end the decades-long conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.
Source: Krone
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