By Stan Goodenough
Jul 21, 2009
Israel will not be able to trust American "guarantees" in future if the Obama administration does not keep to the agreements made by its predecessors.
This was the message conveyed to foreign journalists Tuesday by Deputy Prime Minister Dan Meridor.
According to The Jerusalem Post, Meridor insisted that Israel and the United States had a clear agreement dating back six years permitting Israel to build within the construction lines of existing settlements.
"It is of great importance to us that what the American administration agreed to is not overlooked, not because of the contents of that agreement, [but] because of contents of agreements in the future," Meridor said.
"We never had an agreement with the previous administration," he clarified. "We had an agreement with America.
"The agreement we had with the Americans is binding on us and them ... They should keep to the agreement."
Meridor's statement was the latest in an intensifying war of words between Israel and the nation that insists it is Israel's strongest friend and ally even as it continues to undermine Israeli interests, interfere in Israeli politics and work to weaken Israel in the face of the relentless and increasing threat to its existence.
The State Department at the weekend summoned Israel's new ambassador to the Us, Michael Oren, to demand that a Jewish millionaire stop construction on his own property in part of Jerusalem coveted by the Palestinian Arabs as capital of a state they have never had but are resolved to get at Israel's expense.
"Israeli building in eastern Jerusalem is no different than building at West Bank settlements and must stop," Assistant Secretary of State Philip Crowley then told journalists.
On Tuesday Russia, France and Germany demanded the same thing.
"The settlement [sic] should be stopped immediately," AFP quoted Russian foreign ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko as saying, while French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner summoned the Israeli ambassador in Paris to demand the building be stopped. A political ally of German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned Israel it was committing "political suicide."
The European Union's Swedish presidency said Israel should refrain from what it called "provocative actions" which "are illegal under international law."
But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has fired back at Washington, saying Sunday that "United Jerusalem is Israel's unassailable capital and Jews have the right to live and buy in all its neighborhoods."
According to Israel National News, Netanyahu implied that the US request was racist. “Imagine what would happen if Jews were forbidden to live or to buy apartments in certain parts of London, New York, Paris or Rome. There would be an international outcry. All the more, we cannot to a decree like this regarding Jerusalem.”
Jerusalem "is not up for debate," he said.
Other Israeli officials have voiced their rejection of the world's demands:
Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon said Israel has the "indisputable" right to build anywhere in Jerusalem.
Shas Chairman Eli Yishai declared that "Israel's government is not a subsidiary of any other world government [and is] free to build anywhere in Israel, certainly after having obtained all the relevant permits by law."