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Link to Gantz: The scope of construction plans in the settlements is unacceptable - Walla! news

2021-10-27T12:14:57.982Z


In a tense telephone conversation with the Secretary of Defense that took place yesterday, the US Secretary of State clarified that he expects Israel to consider more in the future the US position on the settlements. Ganz replied: I reduced the scope of construction as much as possible.


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Linken to Gantz: The scope of construction plans in the settlements is unacceptable

In a tense telephone conversation with the Secretary of Defense that took place yesterday, the US Secretary of State clarified that he expects Israel to consider more in the future the US position on the settlements. Ganz replied: I reduced the scope of construction as much as possible.

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  • Anthony Blinken

  • United States

  • Settlements

Lightning Ravid

Wednesday, 27 October 2021, 15:00 Updated: 15:07

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US Secretary of State Tony Blinkn there is a tense phone conversation on Tuesday with Defense Minister Benny Gantz, during which he protested the decision to approve the planning and construction of 3000 new housing units in West Bank settlements, the Israeli officials said the three executives was briefed on the conversation.



The conversation between Blinkn Gantz was the highest level it transferred administration Biden Minister's dissatisfaction with the decision to promote new construction in settlements in. it came after an exchange of messages using backchannels middle and low rank and messages in public a Foreign Ministry spokesman in Washington.



Higher planning Council of Civil administration met today for the first time Nearly a year has approved the promotion of planning and construction in a long line of settlements, the first time such approval has been taken since President Biden entered the White House in January.

Blink and Gantz in the White House (Photo: Official Website, US State Department)

Approval of new construction in the settlements was due to take place as early as August before Prime Minister Bennett's trip to Washington for his first meeting with President Biden. However the convening of the Planning Board was postponed at the time due to a strike by Civil Administration employees. Last week, the Ministry of Defense announced a new date for the convening of the council to approve the construction plans in the settlements. The announcement said that the number of housing units to be approved will increase from 2,200 to about 3,000.



In recent weeks, the Biden government has pressured in quiet channels for the Israeli government not to proceed with the approval of the construction plans and not to convene the Planning Board of the Civil Administration. Last week, after the Defense Ministry announced the intention to convene the council, US Ambassador to Jerusalem Michael Ratani turned to Prime Minister Bennett Shimrit Meir's political adviser and complained about the decision. Israeli officials described the conversation between the two as "difficult."



On Tuesday, US pressure escalated when US Secretary of State Blink called Defense Secretary Benny Gantz and made it clear that the new construction plans were "unacceptable" both because of the large number of housing units and because of their geographical distribution - especially in isolated settlements deep in the West Bank.

Senior Israeli officials said Blinkan asked Magnz to take more account of the US position on future settlements.

Construction in the Avnei Hefetz settlement (Photo: Reuven Castro)

Ganz replied to Blinken during the call that he had reduced as much as possible the number of housing units he had planned and their construction would be promoted.

Senior Israeli officials said Gantz added that he understood the Biden administration's sensitivities regarding the settlements and stressed that it would take them into account in the future.



The Defense Minister told Blinko that alongside the discourse on the settlements and the controversy over the Israeli government's policy is the strengthening of the Palestinian Authority and the improvement of the lives of Palestinians in the West Bank.

Senior Israeli officials noted that Gantz told Blinken that he had approved the promotion of plans to build 1,300 housing units for Palestinians in the West Bank, which has not happened for more than a decade.



Gantz told the US Secretary of State that he was criticized for meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and for approving the registration of 4,000 Palestinians in the West Bank population registry.

"I plan to take more such steps soon," Ganz told Blinken.

"The Americans gave us a yellow card"

An Israeli official who was updated on the details of the conversation said it was "difficult."

The senior Israeli official added: "The Americans issued us a yellow card."



The current dispute over settlements began the same week that Ganz signed orders defining six Palestinian NGOs as terrorist organizations.

Both issues provoked a critical public response from the State Department in Washington.

This was the first time such criticism had been heard from the Americans since the formation of the new government in Israel.



Senior Israeli officials have admitted that the American position on the settlements is more aggressive than expected in Jerusalem.

With the they added that at this point the public criticism comes only from the US State Department when the White House has not yet gotten into the issue significantly.

"We must not waste the good will of the American administration towards us," said a senior Israeli official.

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Source: walla

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