(MENAFN- The Peninsula) The right-wing government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has taken another brazen and reckless step towards expanding the illegal settlements in the West Bank. The government yesterday approved an additional $18m to pay for West Bank settlements under the pretext of addressing concerns about the security of existing settlements in the area. This amount is in addition to the $88m already allocated to settlement-related spending, and could be followed with release of more funds.
There is nothing surprising about the government move. Settlement expansion and confiscation of Palestinian land is one area Netanyahu has been specialising in all these years despite strong international condemnations and opposition from several quarters. The peace process is dead, and even the latest Paris initiative to restart the negotiations is gasping for breath due to Israeli opposition and non-cooperation. Netanyahu has been using this vacuum for land-grabbing even as Palestinians are forced to watch helplessly, their protests evoking no response from Tel Aviv.
The US, European Union and many other countries and international organisations have called for a halt to the settlement building. Palestine Liberation Organisation Secretary-General Saeb Erekat called the latest move a “slap in the face of the international community”. “Israel is doing everything possible to sabotage every effort to achieve a just and lasting peace,” he said in a statement.
With every Israeli aggression and land confiscation, the chances of a future peace process recede to the distant horizon. Netanyahu is expanding settlements with the specific objective of killing the peace process once and for all because he would not agree to give up this land which will be required for a future Palestinian state. Palestinians have always maintained that peace talks are meaningless unless Tel Aviv halts the settlement-building. Palestinians are angry and frustrated, with no worthwhile help forthcoming from the international community and the Arab world being in the throes of several crises at home. This angst and disappointment has been the cited as the reason for the spike in Palestinian attacks on Israelis, which Israel conveniently dubs as acts of terrorism. But Netanyahu is dangerously wrong if he thinks Israel can sleep in peace after all these atrocities. The global opinion, especially in the West, is tilting against the Jewish state and in favour of Palestinians, with several Jewish columnists and experts warning Netanyahu against the repercussions of his recklessness. The BDS (boycott, divestment and sanctions) movement against Israel is gaining momentum in the West. Even in America, there is a growing realisation that Israel is the aggressor and Palestinians their victims.