Israeli Labor ministers supported Sunday Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's proposal to establish five new Jewish settlements in the Halutza region of the Negev, close to the Gaza Strip, reported Haaretz newspaper.
Following a brief meeting at Foreign Minister Shimon Peres’ office in Tel Aviv, the ministers decided they had no grounds to oppose the proposal.
The ministers did not address the fact that all Israeli settlement activities are illegal under international law, based on the globally accepted principle that it is not permissible to "settle" land taken by military force.
In negotiations between the government of former prime minister Ehud Barak and the Palestinian Authority, one of the options that was raised was a land-swap deal that would have given the Halutza dunes to the Palestinians, as part of the expansion of the Gaza Strip eastwards, in exchange for Israel retaining parts of the West Bank.
In the run-up to the election, Sharon publicly committed himself to establishing settlements on the site if he was elected to office.
Former justice minister Yossi Beilin (Labor) harshly criticized his colleagues' decision, the paper said.
He contended that building settlements in the area would only “play into the hands of the Palestinians” and argued that the establishment of settlements on the sand dunes would eventually force Israel to give up more valuable land in the framework of a final settlement.
Agriculture Minister Shalom Simhon said that as one of the founders of the settlements in the north-west Negev, he supported the development of the area and encouraging the establishment of settlement there, the paper said.
"Ehud Barak made a commitment to the public, the kibbutzim and the settlements of the Negev that Halutza would not be handed over to the Palestinians," Shalom said. "This is also written in the Labor Party's manifesto and there is no point in arguing over an issue for which there is a consensus."
Israel has been occupying the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and other Arab lands for over 34 years. Israeli settlers, many of them fundamentalists, believe that God has given them the ownership of these lands, and have laid claim to even broader swathes of territory than the Jewish state currently occupies.
The uprising, or Intifada, against the occupation has already seen over 520 Palestinians killed and over 14,000 wounded, according to the Palestine Red Crescent Society. In the same period, Israeli losses have been slightly over 120 dead and over 600 wounded, according to press reports – Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
