From Ma’an today…

PA slams Israeli settlement plans

Palestinian Authority says Netanyahu is “putting ‘concrete’ preconditions on the ground” as Israel approves 1,100 settlement units in East Jerusalem.

‘Concrete’ indeed…! The Settlements are basically the problem in the West Bank and Jerusalem, next to the Occupation itself…! Period…! The Israelis know it, We know it, sooo… WTF, over…?

In reflecting back, we certainly can’t bribe Bibi, and, one of my more recent posts: ‘This is nothing political, it’s just economic’…

Once again, the Madame(s) responded with the usual hot air…

U.S. condemns Israeli plan for new construction beyond Green Line

…”We believe that this morning’s announcement by the government of Israel approving the construction of (1,100) housing units in East Jerusalem is counter-productive to our efforts to resume direct negotiations between the parties,” Clinton told reporters at a news conference.

“As you know, we have long urged both sides to avoid any kind of action which could undermine trust, including, and perhaps most particularly, in Jerusalem, any action that could be viewed as provocative by either side,” she added.

The European Union’s foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton also expressed disappointment with Israel’s new plan to build homes in Gilo, saying they “should be reversed” since it undermines peace negotiations with the Palestinians…

Talk about your mixed messages from Foggy Bottom, tho…

U.S.: Israeli settlement freeze should not be precondition to peace talks

American envoy to Israel Dan Shapiro says direct talks without preconditions is only way to resolve Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The U.S. ambassador to Israel reaffirmed on Tuesday Washington’s opposition to a Palestinian call to halt Israeli settlement building before peace negotiations can resume.

Facing renewed urging from international mediators to return to negotiations and defuse a row over his bid for a full seat at the United Nations, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has repeated his demand for a settlement freeze first.

U.S. envoy Dan Shapiro said Washington had never favored making a freeze a condition for negotiations: “We’ve never set that, in this administration or any other, as a precondition for talks,” he told Army Radio, in response to a question on whether he favored the Palestinian demand.

Shapiro noted that the United States has long opposed Israeli settlement in the West Bank, territory captured in a 1967war and where, along with the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem, Palestinians want to establish a state of their own.

But he added: “What we have said consistently is that we believe direct talks are the only way to resolve this conflict, and (it) can only be resolved by the parties themselves in those talks, and they should be entered without preconditions.”

Here’s some Bibi in all his finery…

Netanyahu: Palestinians making ‘terrible mistake’ by not resuming peace talks

Prime Minister says has enough political backing to achieve Mideast peace, imploring Palestinians to ‘take that opportunity and make peace, for God’s sake’.

…Netanyahu told Charlie Rose in an interview on PBS Monday night, that he is ready to negotiate “anywhere any time, without preconditions, just do it. It’s so simple yet they make it so complicated. It’s like the Nike commercial, just do it. And I’m prepared to just do it.”

Netanyahu conceded that the failure of a two-state solution is not in Israel’s interest, saying: “I don’t want the Palestinian population incorporated as citizens of Israel or as subjects of Israel so they have to live in their own state.”

“I just want to make sure that that state doesn’t become another Gaza, doesn’t become another mini-Iran which could destroy the one and only Jewish state,” he told Charlie.

Netanyahu said in the interview that he has the support of the coalition, and that he is capable of delivering peace. “I think the Palestinians are again making a terrible mistake,” he said, imploring the Palestinians to “take that opportunity and make peace, for God’s sake.”

The Israeli prime minister said that he refused to compromise on Jerusalem as a united city, but said this is not a precondition for negotiations; it is a position in the negotiations. “It’s even silly to come forward and say, “Well, I’ll offer this percent, you know, with a decimal point of land” – that’s what the negotiations are for! Now, I don’t hear Abbas saying anything – nothing! He’s not offering anything,” Netanyahu exclaimed to Rose in the interview…

So what again are ya offering, Bibi…?

Yes, Let’s negotiate over how we divide the pizza while I eat the pizza…

Btw, Bibi’s right in saying he has the Political backing…

Israel must annex West Bank settlements, right-wing MKs tell Netanyahu

In letter to premier, leaders of several Knesset factions say Israel must retaliate against the Palestinians’ ‘unilateral’ statehood bid at the UN, or risk losing its deterrence.

In fact, Knesset to vote on full Israeli annexation of the West Bank…

Errmmm… So Bibi, where do ya propose to put those Palestinians, if ya up and annex the entire West Bank…? Just a thought…!

*gah*

Update: Israel says newly approved homes ‘not settlement’

Israel on Wednesday rejected international outcry over its plans to build 1,100 new homes in Gilo in annexed Palestinian east Jerusalem, insisting the area was “not a settlement.”

“Gilo is not a settlement, nor a settlement outpost. It is a neighborhood which constitutes an integral part of the center of Jerusalem,” a senior Israeli official told Agence France-Presse.

Oops, My Bad…! *aargh*