Israel approves another 1,200 settlement units around Jerusalem

[puckstopshere]

Israel has given the green light for the fast-track development of a further 1,200 settlement units around Jerusalem. It brings the total number of new approvals to 5,500 in just over a week, the largest wave of proposed expansion in recent memory.

The latest plan, which would see almost 1,000 new apartments built over Jerusalem's green line in Gilo, comes as the Israeli media is reporting mounting pressure on the prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, to drop his commitment to a two-state solution from his platform for re-election in January.

The agreement for the Gilo development is only the latest in wave of settlement approvals in Jerusalem agreed by the country's interior ministry and Jerusalem municipality's planning committees before Christmas.

That included proposals, which attracted international criticism, to develop the controversial E1 block to the east of Jerusalem.

Although Netanyahu, who leads a coalition with the ultra-nationalist Avigdor Lieberman, is still expected to win the most seats in the 22 January vote, a new poll suggests he has been losing ground since Lieberman was indicted on anti-trust charges this month and forced to step down as foreign minister.

A poll conducted by Dialog gives 35 of parliament's 120 seats to Netanyahu's Likud-Beiteinu list, down from 39 in the previous Dialog survey. The centrist Labor party polled second, with 17 seats.

The poll shows a continued surge by the rightwing Jewish Home party. Its leader, Naftali Bennett, stirred up a storm last week by saying he would resist evacuating settlements if ordered to do so as a reserves soldier.

The issue of Israel's illegal settlements has come to be a lightning-rod issue in the elections, even as Israel has faced mounting pressure to halt settlement expansion.

The latest wave of approvals followed a vote in the UN's general assembly to upgrade the Palestinian Authority to observer status at the United Nations despite US and Israeli opposition.

With some critics of Israeli settlement policy arguing that the latest approvals mark the death knell for the two-state solution, it has emerged that some members of Netanyahu's own party are also pushing for him to remove his commitment to a future Palestinian state from his election platform.

Netanyahu signed up to the two-state solution in a 2009 speech at Bar-Ilan University, but senior officials from his party, who spoke anonymously to Haaretz, told the paper he was facing increasing pressure to abandon that position.

"Dividing the land will bring about Israel's destruction," one senior Likud official told the newspaper. "We've said that in the past and we say it today. How does this sit with recognising a Palestinian state?"

A second senior party official added: "Likud's platform to date has not recognised the establishment of a Palestinian state, and Yisrael Beiteinu rejects outright the possibility that a Palestinian state could be established alongside Israel."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/dec/25/israel-approves-settlement-units-jerusalem

[puckstopshere]

They just don't get it, do they.

Another step closer to war in the middle east.

And what little credibility Netanyahu might have had left is now totally out the window.

[nuvistors]

The land they are building on was won during the  war in 1967 when the Arab states tried to kill every jew in  Israel.   They lost

[prior-of-verity*shake-hands-with-your-devil]

They want to steal more land....at any cost...including lives.

[prior-of-verity*shake-hands-with-your-devil]

Get to know the real history.

[puckstopshere]

The land they are building on was won during the  war in 1967 when the Arab states tried to kill every jew in  Israel.   They lost

They may have won that war.  But will they win the next?  They seem to be doing everything that they can to start another war.  Netanyahu has said publicly that he supports a two-state policy.  His actions lead one to believe that his view of a Palestinian state is a 200 square foot plot of rock and sand somewhere in a desert. 

[prior-of-verity*shake-hands-with-your-devil]

In the Nam war, it is a historical fact that the US technically won every battle.

But they still lost.

[puckstopshere]

In the Nam war, it is a historical fact that the US technically won every battle.  But they still lost

Had they stayed, they would have continued to lose.  Or, they would have used the "bomb" that no one else should be allowed to possess. 

[valve37]

The land they are building on was won during the  war in 1967 when the Arab states tried to kill every jew in  Israel.   They lost

My Mother used to say, "if the Lord be for you then who can be against you".

[pigdog47]

The bait is so good, but I'm not biting.

[prior-of-verity*shake-hands-with-your-devil]

Prove there is a 'lord' first.

[valve37]

Prove there isn't,

A proof is a proof and when you have a good proof it's proven.

[prior-of-verity*shake-hands-with-your-devil]

I can't prove there isn't, but there is more proof that there is no proof....... and you can't prove there is.....which makes it a draw and because it is a draw.......it should have no aspect on the decision of who takes what land or any other item from a anyone.

The laws of those who allowed Israel to take the land are laws in secular countries. Secular meaning they have nothing to do with religion. The decision to allow the stealing of the land was based on politics.....not religion. Religion is simply a convenient..................... excuse.

[ilurkthereforiam]

It is starting to look alot like South Africa during apartheid.

[patken123]

Imagine a weak little orphan boy who can't feed or cloth himself being taken care of by a stepfather who is a big,strong man with lots of money,the kid grows up slowly but surely and he soon realizes that because of his stepfather's physical stature and financial fortitude school kids and neighborhood kids alike respect him out of fear ,so he with his skinny little body starts to bully the neighborhood kids taking their toys,beating them knowing that the stepfather is always there to protect him physically and pay for damages financially,the kid on his own does not have any power what so ever but with the support of his dad rules the neighborhood.

Now my question is ,how long do you think this kid can rely on the stepfather's unconditional blind support? it will definitely not be for ever,the father is only going to do that for so long,he has a lot of others in his own family to feed,plus he will get old,and will not have the same financial means as before ,then what's going to happen to the young boy?

we all know that day is on the horizon,deny all you want,at the end of it all justice will prevail.the kids of the neighborhood will get their revenge that is if the old man's own family don't force their father to remove all his support for the boy.

You all know who the little boy is and who is the big burly stepfather.

[puckstopshere]

A proof is a proof and when you have a good proof it's proven.

And you don't so it isn't.

Aesop's Fables, Grimm's Fairy Tales, Dr. Seuss, Alice In Wonderland, the Bible - all well known works.  Each one proves nothing - except that some human was able to put quill to paper and cover it with words.