WHAT Israel gives, or pretends to, today, it takes back tenfold the following day. The antics never stop. Less than two weeks after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced a 10-month freeze on settlement activities in the West Bank, his government approved a $1.2 billion national priority plan to provide money and essential services to about 90 settlements, including so-called unauthorized posts erected by Jewish extremists.

It’s a slap in the face for US, European and international efforts to convince Israel to observe a moratorium on settlement activities in the occupied territories so that troubled Middle East peace talks could resume. It also sends a gloomy message to the Palestinians who see the expansion of Jewish colonies as an unbridgeable gorge standing in the way of an independent state they can call their own.

The decision was so grave that Labor’s main partners in Netanyahu’s coalition government voted against it. Defense Minister and Labor leader Ehud Barak said the new policy gave “a prize” to small settlements, almost all of which are controlled by Jewish extremists. The opposition, led by Kadima, criticized the plan for giving “hush money to hilltop youth in unauthorized outposts.”

There is no doubt that such “recognition” of isolated and unauthorized Jewish communities marks a departure from previous policies and commitments. It heralds a new wave of West Bank settlement expansion the goes well beyond the so-called Green Line and the barrier wall.

More dangerously, the plan gives the green light to Jewish zealots, who oppose settlement freeze, Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank and the creation of a Palestinian state, the go-ahead to unleash a fresh offensive to confiscate more Arab lands and set up new outposts. In effect, this latest policy has driven the final nail into the coffin of the peace process.

In addition to forsaking his commitment to a two-state solution, Netanyahu is bolstering his own radical views on the future of East Jerusalem, Jewish settlements and Palestinian national aspirations. He is also daring the US, in particular the Obama administration, to stand up in his way.

THE latest policy cancels out a previous declaration to freeze settlement activities for 10 months. Aside from embarrassing the US, which had praised the moratorium and signaled its readiness to kick-start peace talks, it robs the element of enterprise from outside parties. All the US and Europe can do at this stage is to express their disappointments. The rules of engagement are changing and the agenda is now being set by Israel and not any other side.

Furthermore, the new plan to extend government funding of illegal and unauthorized posts run by extremists comes few days after fanatical Jewish settlers attacked and torched a mosque in a West Bank village. Even though Netanyahu had condemned the incident, the fact that more than 110,000 Jewish settlers will be getting much needed money will only encourage radicals to pursue a policy of intimidation and terrorism against Palestinians. The Israeli left is powerless and the latest advance by the Netanyahu government, which relies on the support of the extreme right-wing, will provide radical forces with the fuel they need to carry out more egregious schemes. Israel’s right is a runaway train and no one can stop it in its tracks, not even Netanyahu.

THE biggest losers are the Palestinians, who can do little to stop a new stampede on their territory. Already thousands of new housing units are being built in East Jerusalem and adjacent settlements. In Israel’s view these lands are outside any proposed political deal. But now it is new territories in the heart of the West Bank that are being colonized. The PNA can protest all it wants, but on the ground Israel will continue to create new demographic and political realities.

The US and Europe, among others, can do more than issue statements and advisories. For starters these billion-dollar expansion schemes depend on foreign funding, trade agreements and aid. These generous donors can adopt resolutions regulating the flow of money into Israel, just as they did with “suspicious” money going to Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran!

If Israel cannot be convinced diplomatically of the folly of its acts in Palestinian territories, then it should be made to understand that it cannot carry on by using funds coming from the United States and Europe. On the other hand, Arab states, who still hold on to the Arab peace initiative, must adopt a new course of action.

On the political front the time has come for them to withdraw that peace offering and deliver an unequivocal message to the international community. But on the economic side they can do a lot to combat Israel’s schemes to expel Arabs from East Jerusalem and to help West Bankers stave off assaults on their properties and lands.

In addition, there is a need to examine the plight of UNRWA whose financial debacle threatens the livelihood of millions of Palestinians, in the occupied territories and in host countries.

We are witnessing a new Israeli occupation of the West Bank, one that aims at dissecting Arab lands and burying for good the prospect of a contiguous and viable Palestinian state. The alternatives to the collapse of the two-state solution will usher in tsunami waves of radicalism and extremism that promise to shake the entire region.

— Osama Al Sharif is a veteran journalist and a political commentator based in Jordan.