Settlement spokesperson Eve Harow debate with Peace Now

Israel is preparing to announce the end of the moratorium on settlement construction in West Bank. The Palestinian government has warned that any new construction in the area will mean the immediate halt of peace talks.
Earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he will not be extending the moratorium.

The Palestinians said a restart of settlement construction by Israelis could cause them to quit negotiations, which began this September for the first time in two years.

Meanwhile, Israel's prime minister is calling on West Bank settlers to show restraint as Israeli restrictions on settlement works come to an end.

Some Jewish settlers plan to celebrate the end of moratorium later on Sunday with a rally to symbolically resume construction -- a move that could threaten newly re-launched Middle East peace talks.

Eyal Raviv, from MEPEACE -- an NGO aimed at extending dialogue between both sides of the conflict, thinks only a freeze of construction can give another chance for peace.

"These peace talks need to continue, so that we can continue living together without violence. The settlement freeze will be an opportunity for these leaders to show that they can overcome the obstacles in their way," Raviv said.

However, Eve Harow from the Yesha Council -- an organization that provides support to Jewish settlements -- says freezing the settlements has no impact on the cause of the problem preventing peace in the region.

"The cause [of the problem] is the Arab world at large, and the Palestinians, in particular, not accepting the right of the Jews to have a state here," Harow argues. "Therefore, the freeze has nothing to do with peace whatsoever. Stopping it or continuing it will make absolutely no difference."

Peace activist Yotam Berger says more settlement construction seriously threatens the peace process and makes settling the territorial dispute ever more difficult.

"We should do everything we can to stop the [construction] in order to make Israel a country with a future," Berger said.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Israel
• peace
• Palestinian
• West Bank
• Judea
• Yehuda
• Yesha
• Shomron
• Jews
• Arab

[ilangrah]

what is he like 12 years old?????

[steute2011]

@Haivri To say that the illegal settlements have nothing to do with the peace process is absolutely absurd. Let someone come and tear your home down to build one of their own and see how peaceful you feel. Israel has convinced itself that they the are not illegally occupying the West Bank, Golan Heights and Gaza by way of the blockade, regardless to what the international community / law says. There is no premise for recognition of the 'Jewish" state in international law, as it already exists.

[durhamdf]

@leounn Yo are absolutely right. Israelis need to reckognize how damaging it is to the peace process to let these settlements continue to expand. Hopefully soon the country will move back to the center and reign in the conservative right once and for all

[durhamdf]

@JBBlitz Where the hell do you get your statistics? Your asshole? Israel, like every industrialized nation is very divided with a far left and a conservative right, and a bunch of people who fall somewhere in the middle. There isn't a question that 92% of the population would agree on

[theendofisrahell]

israhell carma is coming belive me . . .

[JBBlitz]

only 8 percent of Israelis care about the Palestinians, so why the hell would Netanyahu even freeze it, Economic prosperity is far more important than peace with morons. he needs to address to important stuff not waste time with idiots that are not productive to society and giving them more welfare and obama being a world celebrity for arabs because he failed to help his own country.

[leounn]

Why can't the israelis be the bigger man here and freeze the settlements! I know that there are jews that feels that this is bad for everyone. Hopefully, they'll have a bigger voice soon because that will lead us to peace.

[Haivri]

Yesha spokesperson Eve Harow explains why the building of Jewish communities in Yehuda and Shomron has nothing to do with the peace process. We all want peace and in order to achieve it the Arabs must acknowledge the Jewish State and rights of Jews to our homeland.

[dalmurja]

And might I add... why bring a younger person that has difficulty speaking English to stand versus a much older lady who is very fluent?

[dalmurja]

Harow is not even born in Israel... Why does she have a voice in Middle East peace talks?

But to reply to her: Palestinians are TALKING to Israel and they are trying to reach a deal with Israel! --- Other Arab nations will accept Israel as a nation once Palestine is established as a nation. Thats how it will work, not the other way around.