TEL AVIV // As prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu struggles to reach a compromise with the US on settlement expansion: he is increasingly facing a challenge from key political allies at home who are pushing for continued Jewish construction on territory Palestinians want for a future state.
The hurdles Mr Netanyahu may face should he agree to any building limits were highlighted on Wednesday, when a top government minister and member of the premier’s own party called a left-wing, anti-settler group a “virus” and suggested Israel defy a US call for a settlement freeze.
The statements caused an uproar yesterday among left-leaning politicians and even drew criticism from members of Mr Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party, who accused the minister, Moshe Yaalon, of provoking more tensions with the US.
The remarks, which also prompted Mr Netanyahu yesterday to summon Mr Yaalon for what is expected to be a scolding, is the latest in a series of pro-settlement declarations made this week by senior members of the governing coalition.
Such declarations are likely to increase pressure on Mr Netanyahu, who was ousted from his first premiership in the late 1990s after alienating right-wing coalition partners, and may be seeking to avoid a similar fate this time around. But the premier is also looking to avert further exacerbation of the deepest rift in at least a decade between Israel and the US, its staunchest ally.
However, his task seems anything but easy. Within his coalition, several cabinet ministers appear to have formed a united front in opposition to the US demand.
This week, Mr Yaalon, who is the deputy prime minister, and three other cabinet ministers publicly rejected a long-standing commitment made by Israel to evacuate 23 West Bank outposts built without government authorisation. They visited several of them and stated that they should be legalised. Mr Yaalon also said Israel should consider resettling the evacuated West Bank settlement of Homesh, which the country dismantled in 2005.
On Wednesday, Mr Yaalon, also a former military chief, created further controversy. He was shown in television footage saying, in reference to initiatives such as Israel’s 2005 evacuation of settlers from the Gaza Strip, where the country launched an onslaught in January following rocket barrages fired on its southern communities by Gaza militants: “Whenever the politicians bring us the peace dove, we as the army have to go in and clean up after them.” Asked about the US pressure on the settlements, he said: “I, for one, am not afraid of the Americans. I believe that Jews have the right to live anywhere in the land of Israel, forever.”
Mr Yaalon then also lashed out at the Left and described Peace Now, a prominent Israeli group tracking the growth of settlements and arguing that Jewish construction in Palestinian-claimed territory hurts Israel’s security interests, as damaging to the country. Mr Netanyahu, interrupting a family holiday, issued a statement asking Mr Yaalon to report to him in a meeting that was scheduled for yesterday.
Yossi Verter, a commentator for Haaretz, a liberal Israeli newspaper, wrote yesterday: “Netanyahu understands that the Americans are following Yaalon’s statements and are wondering if Netanyahu is not behind them. After all, Yaalon … is a man deep in Netanyahu’s inner circle. With an ocean of suspicion already dividing Netanyahu from Obama, Yaalon’s comments will only make his dealings with the Americans even harder.”
Analysts said such pressure from the Right was timed ahead of Mr Netanyahu’s meeting next week in London with George Mitchell, the top US envoy to the Middle East, to continue negotiations on the settlements.
Mr Netanyahu has so far resisted the US demand, claiming construction must continue to accommodate the so-called “natural growth” of Jewish families.
While speculation has emerged of a possible temporary halt to building, the premier’s office this week denied a report in the Israeli press that Mr Netanyahu had quietly agreed with Ehud Barak, the defence minister, and Ariel Atias, the housing minister, to suspend government tenders for building new homes in the West Bank at least until early 2010.
Nevertheless, Mr Netanyahu is showing signs of compromise. On Tuesday, a government official said Israel had halted granting permission for all new housing projects in occupied territory since the premier took power in March.
However, Peace Now later played down the statement’s significance, saying that government-sponsored building only accounted for some 40 per cent of the total in the West Bank, while the rest was funded privately by settler groups and other non-governmental organisations. Peace Now also said Israeli settlement activity is anything but frozen, with more than 1,000 housing units that have already been approved undergoing construction.
Front Page Features