In a refreshing change, Israeli PM Benyamin Netanyahu told UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon flatly on Wednesday that there will be no new freeze on Jewish construction in Judea and Samaria.
In a press conference after his meeting Tuesday in Jordan with King Abdullah II and Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh, Ban had forcefully urged Netanyahu to reinstate an Israeli unilateral construction freeze in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria as a “goodwill gesture” to the Hamas-allied 'Palestinian' Authority, saying that such construction was “not helpful”. Ban did not specify for whom building hom,es was unhelpful, and needless to say, Ban had nothing to say about 'Palestinian' construction in the area.
Netanyahu refused to comply with Ban’s request, saying that any discussion regarding a renewed freeze on construction should occur as part of negotiations themselves rather than as a precondition to talks.
“This issue is part of the negotiations,” he told Ban. “It can’t be a precondition.”
In other good news, Israel gave preliminary approval on Wednesday to a plan to build 600 new homes in Shiloh in Judea. Included are retroactive approvals for 100 previously constructed homes.
Shiloh, by the way was Israel's capitol for over 400 years.
The UN’s Mideast envoy, Robert Serry, called the Israeli announcement “deplorable” and said it “moves us further away from the goal of a two-state solution.”
*chuckle*
Let a thousand bulldozers bloom.
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