JERUSALEM, 9 April 2008 — A top Israeli official has reportedly said a large Jewish settlement in the West Bank was built on private Palestinian land.
The Haaretz daily says the comments by Vice Premier Haim Ramon confirm that construction of the Ofra settlement violated a 1979 Supreme Court order.
Haaretz said in its report yesterday that Ramon got his information about the settlement from Israel’s Defense Ministry. It says this information could have legal implications for Palestinians seeking compensation for land claims.
A veteran Israeli negotiator warned yesterday Israelis and Palestinians won’t be able to reach a peace deal by the end of the year, as the US hopes, unless they step up the pace of talks dramatically.
The US must also intensify its role, both in monitoring compliance with peace obligations and getting involved in the negotiations, said Israeli legislator Yossi Beilin, a founder of the Geneva Initiative, a group of Israelis and Palestinians who negotiated the draft of a final peace deal.
Yesterday, the Geneva Initiative released a booklet with tips for negotiators, such as setting up one or more secret negotiating channels, alongside the public one, and doing more to win over public opinion on both sides.
“Our main message is that those who really want to make peace in a year need to change their mode of operations dramatically,” Beilin said. “If the behavior remains what it is today ... you cannot reach an agreement this year.” Beilin was a key player in Israeli-Palestinian negotiations in the 1990s, and participated in the failed Mideast peace summit in 2000. He noted that it took nearly eight years, from that failed summit, to restart talks and warned that a new opportunity might not come around soon if the current talks fail.
Hamas Threatens to Breach Borders
A leading Hamas official has said Gazans will storm into Egypt and Israel if they don’t lift their embargo of the territory. Khalil Al-Haya says Palestinians in Gaza can no longer bear being confined to the strip and subjected to shortages of food, power and substandard health care.
Palestinians breached their southern border and poured into Egypt, buying up everything in sight in January.
Al-Haya says Palestinians will do it again, and might breach other borders — a clear reference to Gaza’s borders with Israel.
