Israel strikes back at UN recognition of Palestine
Source: Agencies |
December 3, 2012, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
Israel has roundly rejected the United Nations' endorsement of an independent state of Palestine, announcing it would withhold more than US$100 million collected for the Palestinian government to pay debts to Israeli companies.
It was the second act of reprisal since the UN General Assembly voted overwhelmingly late last Thursday to support the Palestinians' statehood initiative. The following day, Israel announced it would start drawing up plans to build thousands of settlement homes, including the first residential developments on a sensitive piece of land near Jerusalem. Actual construction would be years away.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared the statehood campaign, led by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, as "a gross violation of the agreements signed with the state of Israel."
"Accordingly, the government of Israel rejects the UN General Assembly decision," he said. Israel, backed by the US, campaigned against the statehood measure, arguing that only negotiations can deliver a Palestinian state.
Abbas returned home from New York yesterday to a hero's welcome in the West Bank city of Ramallah. Some 5,000 people thronged a square outside his headquarters, hoisting Palestinian flags and cheering. Large posters of the Palestinian leader adorned nearby buildings.
"We now have a state," he said to wild applause. "The world has said loudly, 'Yes to the state of Palestine'."
Abbas warned of "creative punishments" by Israel. Referring to the latest settlement construction plans, he said: "We have to realize that your victory has provoked the powers of war, occupation and settlements because their isolation is deepened."
The UN resolution endorsed the Palestinian position that its state includes the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, territories captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war. Israel rejects a full pullback to its 1967 lines and says the resolution is a way to bypass negotiations.
Israeli Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz said the government would withhold taxes and customs collected from Palestinian laborers and businesses on behalf of Abbas' Palestinian Authority, which led the statehood campaign.
The money will be used to help pay off the authority's debts to Israel, including US$200 million owed to the state-run Israel Electric Corp, government officials said. This month, more than US$100 million was to have been transferred.
"Today we are building and we will continue to build in Jerusalem and in all areas that appear on Israel's map of strategic interests," Netanyahu told his Cabinet yesterday.
Half a million settlers live in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, the result of a decades-long strategy aimed at blurring the borders between Israel and the occupied territories.
The announcement that Israel would forge ahead with construction plans came just days after the US became the only world power to side with it in opposing the Palestinians' statehood bid.
Britain and France urged Israel to rescind the decision, and other European states denounced it.
It was the second act of reprisal since the UN General Assembly voted overwhelmingly late last Thursday to support the Palestinians' statehood initiative. The following day, Israel announced it would start drawing up plans to build thousands of settlement homes, including the first residential developments on a sensitive piece of land near Jerusalem. Actual construction would be years away.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared the statehood campaign, led by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, as "a gross violation of the agreements signed with the state of Israel."
"Accordingly, the government of Israel rejects the UN General Assembly decision," he said. Israel, backed by the US, campaigned against the statehood measure, arguing that only negotiations can deliver a Palestinian state.
Abbas returned home from New York yesterday to a hero's welcome in the West Bank city of Ramallah. Some 5,000 people thronged a square outside his headquarters, hoisting Palestinian flags and cheering. Large posters of the Palestinian leader adorned nearby buildings.
"We now have a state," he said to wild applause. "The world has said loudly, 'Yes to the state of Palestine'."
Abbas warned of "creative punishments" by Israel. Referring to the latest settlement construction plans, he said: "We have to realize that your victory has provoked the powers of war, occupation and settlements because their isolation is deepened."
The UN resolution endorsed the Palestinian position that its state includes the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, territories captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war. Israel rejects a full pullback to its 1967 lines and says the resolution is a way to bypass negotiations.
Israeli Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz said the government would withhold taxes and customs collected from Palestinian laborers and businesses on behalf of Abbas' Palestinian Authority, which led the statehood campaign.
The money will be used to help pay off the authority's debts to Israel, including US$200 million owed to the state-run Israel Electric Corp, government officials said. This month, more than US$100 million was to have been transferred.
"Today we are building and we will continue to build in Jerusalem and in all areas that appear on Israel's map of strategic interests," Netanyahu told his Cabinet yesterday.
Half a million settlers live in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, the result of a decades-long strategy aimed at blurring the borders between Israel and the occupied territories.
The announcement that Israel would forge ahead with construction plans came just days after the US became the only world power to side with it in opposing the Palestinians' statehood bid.
Britain and France urged Israel to rescind the decision, and other European states denounced it.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
