Israel is currently on a mission to swallow up as much Palestinian land as it can conceivably digest so that there will never be a Palestinian state. The construction of thousands of new homes in the West Bank and East Jerusalem is part of a series of new settlement plans and the latest in a frenzied land grab, of course sparked by the UN General Assembly's recognition of Palestine as a non-member observer state. These seize-and-snatch territorial projects were all announced by Israel following the Nov. 29 UN vote. Some conclude Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is backing the plans in order to pander to hardline voters ahead of Jan. 22 parliamentary elections. That is true, but only partly. Netanyahu has no serious rival and is expected to win handily. What Netanyahu is really gunning for is to jeopardize the possibility of a contiguous, sovereign, independent and viable Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital. The 500,000 Jews and the more than 200 settlements they live in are expected to increase dramatically, leaving little land left for Palestinians to create a country. The settlements have drawn some sort of rebuke from Israel's closest ally, the United States. On Tuesday it accused Israel of engaging in a “pattern of provocative action.” However, the day after Israel's repeated announcements and approvals of new construction, this unusually harsh language became the usual toothless “harmful to the cause of peace” and puts the goal of peace “further at risk”. It might have been hoped that the UN vote would have finally forced the US to recognize that on the issue of Palestine, it must now stop blocking progress toward peace, step aside and permit other states with a genuine interest in actually achieving peace to take the lead in helping achieve it. The vote demonstrated that America should no longer persist in believing that it is an indispensable nation, and it should realize that its monopoly control over the Middle East peace process is over, and is no longer needed or wanted. The way forward is already set out by international law and numerous UN resolutions, which are still waiting to be implemented. Therein lays the injustice. On and off, slow-grinding talks have bought Israel time to establish irreversible facts on the ground that have already rendered a viable Palestinian state impossible and are designed to make the occupation permanent. Netanyahu accuses the Palestinians of trying to bypass negotiations with the UN move, but if Israel had wanted to sow confidence in the negotiating process, it would have ensured a measure of success, as it had the leverage to do so. Confidence evaporated long ago, in the process itself, the negotiating partner and the broker promoting it. The UN secretary-general and all Security Council members except the US have demanded an immediate halt to new construction. Notwithstanding, Netanyahu said his government would press ahead with settlement expansion, asking how people could limit construction in their own capital. The answer is well known: It is against international law to build Israeli settlements in occupied territory until a final settlement is reached. By continuing the construction of settlements, Netanyahu is breaking the law, making Israel an outlaw state.
