ISRAELI PRIME minister Benjamin Netanyahu planted trees at two West Bank settlements yesterday, vowing that the large Jewish settlement blocs would remain part of Israel forever.
In his first visit to the West Bank since becoming prime minister in March, Mr Netanyahu planted trees in the Etzion bloc, south of Bethlehem, and at Ma’ale Adumim, a large West Bank settlement between Jerusalem and Jericho.
“Our message is clear: We are planting trees here and we are here to stay,” he said, after planting a tree ahead of the Jewish festival of Tu B’shvat, the New Year for Trees.
The prime minister said there was a national consensus that these areas were “an integral part of Israel” and this position was “slowly permeating the international community.” An aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas criticised the tree-planting as undermining peace efforts.
After talks between Mr Abbas and US envoy George Mitchell yesterday, unnamed Palestinian sources raised the possibility that a peace agreement will not be clinched during the term of President Abbas. Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said the Palestinians still insisted on a total Israeli building freeze in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, blaming Israeli actions on the ground for placing obstacles to the resumption of peace talks.
Mr Mitchell continued his efforts to get the Israelis and Palestinians talking again, despite comments last week from President Barack Obama admitting that he overestimated the ability of his administration to persuade the sides to renew talks.
Earlier, after talks in Jerusalem with the US envoy, Mr Netanyahu said “new and interesting ideas were raised” aimed at bringing about a resumption of bilateral talks. He told ministers at the weekly cabinet meeting “I also expressed my hope that these new ideas will allow for the renewal of the process. Certainly, if the Palestinians express a similar readiness, then we will find ourselves in a diplomatic process.”
Later this week Israel will present to the United Nations its response to the report on the Gaza war drawn up by a UN panel headed by retired South African jurist Richard Goldstone, which accused both Israel and militant Palestinian groups of committing war crimes.