Israeli Envoys to Britain and France Summoned over Settlements
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
Israel's ambassador to Britain was summoned to the Foreign Office on Monday to discuss plans for new settlements, officials said, warning of "strong reaction" to the proposals.
Foreign Office minister Alistair Burt called in Daniel Taub to warn that settlement building threatens the two state-solution and makes progress on peace talks with the Palestinians harder to achieve, the Foreign Office said.
"We have told the Israeli government that if they go ahead with their decision, then there will be a strong reaction," it said in a statement.
Israel's announcement about the 3,000 Jewish settler homes, whose planned location was not revealed, came in the wake of a historic vote by the United Nations General Assembly to upgrade the Palestinians' diplomatic status.
France also summoned the Israeli ambassador on Monday, amid speculation that the two countries are considering recalling their own envoys to Israel.
A diplomatic source in London told Agence France Presse the recall of the British ambassador was an option but insisted that no decisions had yet been taken.
The Foreign Office said: "Any decision about any other measures the UK might take will depend on the outcome of our ongoing discussions with the Israeli government and with international partners including the US and European Union."
Foreign Secretary William Hague this weekend said he was "extremely concerned" by Israel's decision to expand its settlements in response to the U.N. vote and said Britain "strongly advises the Israeli government to reverse this decision".
In its statement on Monday, the Foreign Office said Burt had summoned the Israeli ambassador to the Foreign Office this morning.
"The minister will set out the depth of the UK's concern about decisions concerning all settlement building, in particular in East Jerusalem, given their potential to alter the situation on the ground on a scale that makes the two-state solution, with Jerusalem as a shared capital, increasingly difficult to achieve," the statement said.
Russia also urged Israel to rethink its plans to build the settler homes, saying the project risked harming the chances of reviving the peace process with the Palestinians.
"The realization of the new large-scale settlement plans will negatively affect efforts to restart direct talks aimed at achieving a two-state solution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict," the foreign ministry said in a statement.
03 December 2012, 14:22
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britain gave palestine to the sionists to repair their chamberlain mistake
france gave israel their nuclear plant in dimona..
and they are summoning the ambassadors.....
03 December 2012, 20:27
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When Palestine reverts to democracy, as if the British mandate had led to a plebiscite/referendum, which would have established Palestine on the basis of majority rule, Lebanon will be next. It's easy to give advice, but Lebanon would be wise to hurry up. On the other hand, if you want to understand European hesitation about cleaning up its mistake in the Balfour Declaration and subsequent "international community" rubber-stamping by the League of Nations and UN, look at Lebanon now. Racism never works.
03 December 2012, 20:44
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Now that Palestine has become a state, the first friendly actions of the Arab governments around the area should be to send the hundreds od thousands of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Jordan, etc., back hone.
Does anybody really believe that the dream of returning to Palestine will result in more than at the most 20% agreeing to go ? Remember 95% of the refugees were not born in Palestine, have never been there, were educated and work in the other countries and would feel out of place in Ramallah, Nablus, Bethlehem or wherever.
