(MENAFN- Qatar News Agency) Cupied jerusalem may 09 (qna) -u.s. special envoy to the middle east peace talks martin indyk issued a strong condemnation of israel's settlement activity in the west bank on thursday night saying that it could "drive israel into an irreversible binational reality." 'the settlement activity affects seriously as well the idea of ??"israel as a jewish state" indyk was quoted by haaretz newspaper as saying..
haaretz the hebrew daily described indyk's remarks as "severe and unprecedented" and quoted him (indyk) as saying that the construction tenders and the announcement of new settlement building projects have brought in sabotage to the peace talks and that was deliberately done by the supporters of the settlement activities.
"rampant settlement activity - especially in the midst of negotiations - doesn’t just undermine palestinian trust in the purpose of the negotiations; it can undermine israel’s jewish future" he said. "if this continues it could mortally wound the idea of israel as a jewish state – and that would be a tragedy of historic proportions"indyk added in his speech at the washington institute for near east policy's founders' conference where he gave a review of the nine months of peace talks.
in a carefully nuanced speech that blamed and praised both sides equally the u.s. envoy said that while both prime minister benjamin netanyahu and palestinian president mahmoud abbas had shown flexibility in the talks the leaders "don't feel the pressing need to make gut-wrenching compromises." if the u.s. is the only party with a sense of urgency "the negotiations will not succeed" he said.
"the fact is both the israelis and palestinians missed opportunities and took steps that undermined the process" indyk stated. "we have spoken publicly about unhelpful israeli steps that combined to undermine the negotiations. but it is important to be clear: we view steps the palestinians took during the negotiations as unhelpful too." indyk's objective seemed to be the same as that of visiting u.s. national security adviser susan rice who met both netanyahu and abbas earlier in the day: to prevent the situation deteriorating further and coax the sides back into negotiations.
while condemning remarks of the chief palestinian negotiator saeb erekat on the planning of israel for the liquidation of president mahmoud abbas indyk also condemned the statements which he described as " false and degrading treatment " of israeli parties which claims that president abbas agreed to the settlement construction in the west bank in exchange for the release of prisoners .
indyk also warned the two parties to take steps that will lead to an escalation and deterioration ... pointing out that the so-called "peace process" is not over . the us senior official noted that in the same time that u.s. president barack obama and secretary of state john kerry would move if the israeli and palestinian sides approve it seriously.
according to indyk israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu and palestinian authority president mahmoud abbas do not feel the pressing need to take painful and necessary decisions to reach a peace agreement.
the israeli daily haaretz reported that indyk is considering resigning in light of president barack obama’s intention to suspend us involvement in seeking a negotiated end to the conflict.
"there are a lot of reasons for the peace effort’s failure but people in israel shouldn't ignore the bitter truth - the primary sabotage came from the settlements" the official said adding "the palestinians don’t believe that israel really intends to let them found a state when at the same time it is building settlements on the territory meant for that state. we’re talking about the announcement of 14000 housing units no less. only now after talks blew up did we learn that this is also about expropriating land on a large scale. that does not reconcile with the agreement.
"at this point it’s very hard to see how the negotiations could be renewed let alone lead to an agreement. towards the end [palestinian authority president mahmoud] abbas demanded a three-month freeze on settlement construction. his working assumption was that if an accord is reached israel could build along the new border as it pleases. but the israelis said no." the official said the world community pays more attention to israel’s actions than other countries because "it was founded by a un resolution. its prosperity depends on the way it is viewed by the international community."
he added: "the jewish people are supposed to be smart; it is true that they’re also considered a stubborn nation. you’re supposed to know how to read the map: in the 21st century the world will not keep tolerating the israeli occupation. the occupation threatens israel’s status in the world and threatens israel as a jewish state." later in the interview the official said: "the palestinians are tired of the status quo. they will get their state in the end - whether through violence or by turning to international organizations." according to the official the united states is "taking a time out to think and reevaluate." (end)
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