In unusually harsh statement, State Department ties timing of construction plans to signing of aid deal. U.S. official says White House was livid over timing of approval of plans, which seek to resettle residents of Amona.

Barak Ravid Oct 05, 2016

The U.S. administration published an unusually harsh statement on Wednesday against a plan to build an alternative settlement for residents of the illegal outpost of Amona.

The statement, signed by Mark Toner, deputy spokesman for the State Department, drew an unusual linkage between the signing of the defense aid agreement with Israel and criticism of settlement building.

Toner stressed that the U.S. views advancement of the plan as a violation of a commitment by Netanyahu's government not to establish any new settlements in the West Bank.

The White House later further escalated the criticism, as Josh Ernest said that the decision constitutes a violation of a commitment undertaken by the Israeli government to the U.S. administration, adding that this isn't how friends behave.

read more: http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/1.745959
 

Summary

Former Israeli President Shimon Peres' Middle East peace legacy can only be realized if the settlements he himself approved many years ago are dismantled.

Author Akiva Eldar
Posted September 28, 2016
Translator Ruti Sinai

Read more: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2016/09/israel-ongoing-occupation-destroys-peres-vision.html#ixzz4MIg2Bsyg

.............the reality is that it is never going to happen Little Tich.