“A Dangerous Step”
Berlin criticizes Israel’s settlement decision
3/23/2023 3:44 am
Israel’s parliament partially reverses a 2005 decision to withdraw from four West Bank settlements. In Berlin, the decision is being followed with concern. A new wave of violence is feared.
The Federal Foreign Office has sharply criticized a change in the law passed by the Israeli parliament in favor of Jewish settlers. It was “a dangerous step towards possible renewed settlement activities,” said a ministry spokeswoman on Wednesday evening in Berlin. “This threatens to further aggravate the already tense security situation in the West Bank.”
Israel’s parliament decided on Tuesday night to partially reverse the 2005 decision to withdraw from four settlements in the northern West Bank. “The federal government is very concerned about this,” said the spokeswoman for the Federal Foreign Office. The decision “contradicts the intention of the agreement between Israel and the Palestinians, which was reached only last Sunday, to refrain from taking unilateral steps for a period of four to six months”.
Before the federal government, several other states had already expressed their concern about Israel’s actions. The United States, for example, described the decision as “provocative” and a breach of commitments made to Washington.
A meeting of the UN Security Council on Wednesday also called for a de-escalation of Israeli-Palestinian tensions. “I urge all sides to refrain from unilateral steps that escalate tensions and to refrain from provocative actions and messages at this sensitive time,” said UN Middle East Envoy Tor Wennesland. For her part, US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield warned: “2022 was the deadliest year since the Second Intifada and 2023 is on track to surpass that (…) level of violence.”
In the West Bank, which has been occupied since 1967, 2.8 million Palestinians and 475,000 Israelis live in settlements that the UN has classified as illegal under international law. In addition to official settlements, there are also so-called wild settlements that have been established without permission from the Israeli government.