Israel begins construction of 1,200 settler homes as a "warning" to Palestinians

[Capt Bringdown]

Warning to Palestinians to rethink plan to ask UN to recognize independent state of Palestine

JERUSALEM (AP) – Israel said Tuesday that it was pushing forward with construction of more than 1,200 new homes in Jewish settlements, in an apparent warning to the Palestinians to rethink their plan to ask the United Nations to recognize an independent state of Palestine.

The homes are among 1,200 whose construction Israel ordered fast-tracked in November 2011 after a key U.N. body granted full membership to Palestine.

While construction would take months to begin, officials indicated that the timing of the tenders was meant to signal to the Palestinians that they should consider the possible consequences of their plan to ask the U.N. General Assembly later this month to upgrade their status to non-member observer state.

European powers criticize Israel's decision to move ahead with new settler homes

BERLIN - Germany, Britain and France criticized Israel on Wednesday over its decision to go ahead with the construction of more than 1,200 new homes for Jewish settlers in east Jerusalem and the West Bank.

The three European powers warned that the move could jeopardize efforts to restart the Mideast peace process. Palestinians regard the areas where the homes will be built as part of their future independent homeland.

"Our clear expectation of all sides in the Middle East is that they refrain from anything that will make the resumption of negotiations more difficult," German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said in a statement, calling Israel's settlement policy "a hindrance to the peace process."

A senior British diplomat said Israel's move was "provocative" and "deeply disappointing."

"The UK has been consistently clear that Israeli settlements are illegal under international law and by altering the situation on the ground are making the two state solution, with Jerusalem as a shared capital, increasingly hard to realize," British Foreign Office Minister Alistair Burt said.

[clambake]

if i were prez, i'd call netinyahoo and tell him i want a meeting right away. then when he arrived, i'd make him wait for 2 hours. then i'd have an intern cancel the meeting.

[Drachen]

If I were the prez, I would take his mother Cela Netanyahu out for a nice seafood dinner, then NEVER CALL HER AGAIN!