NETANYAHU ADVISER: ISRAEL SETTLEMENTS, THORN IN TIES WITH ALLIES

      Tel Aviv, 28 Rabiul Awwal 1434/9 Februariy 2013. (MINA) – The national security adviser to the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Tel Aviv’s settlement policy is a “diplomatic problem” in dealings with the regime’s Western allies.
     “It’s impossible to explain the issue of settlement construction anyplace in the world,” Ya’akov Amidror said during discussions in the prime minister’s bureau, Ha’aretz reported on its website on Thursday, monitored by Mi’raj News Agency (MINA), Saturday.
    “Construction in the settlements has become a diplomatic problem and is causing Israel to lose support even among its friends in the West,” he added.
    The remarks come before Amidror’s upcoming Washington visit, which will pave the way for US President Barack Obama’s upcoming visit to Israel.
    The Israeli cabinet announced in November 2012 that it plans to build more than 3,000 new illegal housing units in the West Bank and East al-Quds (Jerusalem), despite the objections of the international community.
     The move came in response to the Palestinians’ successful statehood bid at the UN General Assembly, which upgraded Palestine’s status to non-member observer state.
     In January 2013, the United Nations asked Israel to cease all settlement activities without preconditions in compliance with article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention. Tel Aviv must withdraw the Israeli settlers from the Palestinian land, the world body urged. (T/P015/E1)

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Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)