Departnt Settlements News Today

To further unfettered settlement construction that we fundamentally oppose. so we reject the criticism that this vote abandons israel. on the contrary. it is not this resolution that is isolating israel. it is the permanent policy of settlement construction that risks making peace impossible. virtually every country in the world other than israel opposes settlements. that includes many of the friends of israel, including the united kingdom, france, russia, all of whom voted in favor of the settl...

Abstention of the u.s. these were not enemies of anyone. these were friends of peace trying to save the two-state solution. >> id like to bring you in and ask the same question as well. the ambassador, do you feel optimistic about january 20th? >> no, not at all. whats really unusual here is the degree to which the president-elect has injected himself into ongoing diplomacy and politics while waiting to become president. whats also unusual is the degree to which prime minister netanyahu has trea...

Peace can ignore the reality of what the settlements pose to that peace. but the problem obviously goes well beyond settlements. trends indicate a comprehensive effort to take the west bank land for israel and prevent any palestinian development there. today, the 60% of the west bank known as area c, much of which was supposed to be transferred to palestinian control long ago under the oslo accords, much of it is effectively off limits to palestinian development. most take taken for use by israe...

Significant new settlement well east of the barrier. closer to jordan than to israel. what does that say to palestinians in particular? but also to the united states and the world about israels intentions? let me emphasize, this is not to say that the settlements are the whole or even the primary cause of this conflict. of course they are not. nor can you say that if the settlements were suddenly moved, youd have peace without a broader agreement. you would not. and we understand that in a final...

Must take responsibility to do that. we have repeatedly and emphatically stressed to the palestinians that all incitement of violence must stop. we have consistently condemned all violence and terrorism. we have strongly opposed unilateral efforts to delegitimize israel in international fora. we have made countless public and private exhortations to the israelis to stop the march of settlements. literally hundreds of conversations with prime minister netanyahu i have made clear that continued se...

Judea and samaria. now, you may hear from advocates that the settlements are not an obstacle to peace. because the settlers that tonigdont wa to leave. but that misses a critical point, my friends. subject to israels law. does anyone here believe the settlers will submit to palestinian? likewise, some supporters of the settlement argue they can stay in their settlements and remain as israeli in their enclave protected by the idf. well, there are over 80 settlements east of the separation barri...

The palestinians, are you hearing anything from the palestinian side as to what may be coming out of secretary of state john kerrys remarks at the state department? >> not nearly as month and not nearly as vocal. their focus is really on official lines has been the trump administration and the -- sorry, the israeli government saying, look, if we want a new mideast peace deal, then lets talk settlements. were ready to talk about settlements. you need to freeze settlements. thats been their line n...

Alone the council passed six resolutions that israel opposed including one that endorsed a plan calling for a complete freeze on settlements including natural growth. let me read you the lead paragraph from a "new york times" story dated december 23. i quote, with the united states abstaining the security council adopted a resolution today strongly deploring israels handling of the disturbances in the occupied territories which the resolution defined as including jerusalem. all of the 14 other s...

Roads to support the settlements. this road here is closed. its only accessible by people who live on the settlement. this is what palestinians talk about when they talk about lack of access. settlements have their own water supply, their own schools. its a piece of israel in the west bank. >> those roads, checkpoints, restricted only to israelis traveling in and out of the settlements. but in terms of what impact they have on palestinian communities, talk to us a little bit about that. what are...

Makes clear both sides have to take steps to save the two-state solution while there is still time. we did not take this decision lightly. the obama administration has always defended israel against any effort at the u.n. and any international fora or biased and one-sided resolutions that seek to under mine its legitimacy or security. that has not changed. didnt change with this vote. but remember, its important to note that every united states administration -- republican and democratic -- has ...