It is also important to note that the Gilo's 400 new units and Har Homa's 210 units increase the populations in settlements on each side of the highway that connects Jerusalem and Bethlehem. Ma'aleh Adumim, a much older settlement, is on the highway between Jerusalem and Jericho. (Additional earlier Gilo constuction is shown in the photo above.)
Instead of delaying or postponing the talks, Secretary of State John Kerry gave Israel the usual diplomatic pass in spite of Israel's arrogant and self-defeating behavior.
Traveling in Colombia, according to the Reuters news service, Kerry "told reporters that while some movement on the settlement front had been expected, the wave of announcements may have been "outside of that level of expectation.'"
Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat was less sanguine. Stunned by the size of the new construction, he warned:
"If the Israeli government believes that every week they're going to cross a red line by settlement activity ... what they're advertising is the unsustainability of the negotiations."
The New York Times editorial page deplored the Israeli tactic of pairing the prisoner release with the housing expansion announcement:
"This balancing act may have made sense in the narrow world of the Knesset. But, in the broader world beyond Israeli domestic politics, giving the green light to more settlement construction in contested territory is not just untimely but a fresh cause for pessimism about the prospects for successful peace negotiations."
One of the main reasons Prime Minister Netanyahu agreed to the "peace talks" was to demonstrate to an increasing number of outside critics that he was willing to reach out to the Palestinians.
Announcing the housing settlement "tenders" (permission to construct) did not play well on the world stage that Netanyahu hoped to cultivate. The Omar Tribune reports:
"Palestinians, Russia and the European Union (EU) on Monday slammed the Israeli approval of new settlement construction as a move aimed at 'preventing' peace talks to be resumed on Wednesday.
"'It is clear that the Israeli government is deliberately attempting to sabotage US and international efforts to resume negotiations by approving more settlement units three days before the ... Palestinian-Israeli meeting,' Palestinian negotiator Mohammed Shtayeh said.
"'Israel is attempting to prevent negotiations from taking place on Wednesday.'
"'Israeli settlements in the West Bank are illegal under international law and threaten to make a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict impossible,' EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton's spokesman Michael Mann said."
Stephen Walt, veteran foreign policy analyst, is not optimistic about the talks. He does, however, hope for the best. In a recent piece for Foreign Policy, Walt offers words of encouragement to Secretary of State Kerry. Here are excerpts of Walt's analysis:
"What does U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry think he's doing? Kerry may not be Mr. Charisma, but he's not stupid. So why has he chosen to put himself on this well-worn path to failure? No doubt it is partly because he knows unconditional U.S. support for Israel and the continued colonization of Palestinian land is deeply damaging to broader U.S. interests. No doubt he understands that current trends threaten Israel's long-term future. ...
"Here's what I think may -- repeat, may -- be going on and why it is still misguided.
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