The European Union has issued a warning to Israel over this week’s approvals of new housing units for Jewish towns in Judea and Samaria.
The lion’s share of the badly-needed housing is still years away from construction, let alone purchase by prospective residents, due to the endless red tape each project must still go through in order to reach the actual stage where a bulldozer can put wheels on the ground.
Nevertheless, the European Union’s statement provided more validation for the Palestinian Authority position that the Jewish presence in Judea and Samaria “endangers” efforts to rejuvenate decades-long moribund final status talks agreed to by Israel under the internationally-recognized Oslo Accords.
“The European Union has requested clarifications from Israeli authorities and conveyed the expectation that they reconsider these decisions, which are detrimental to on-going efforts towards meaningful peace talks,” the statement said.
“All settlement activity is illegal under international law, and it undermines the viability of the two-state solution and the prospect for a lasting peace,” the statement added, echoing nearly word for word the constant mantra of the Palestinian Authority.
Final status talks have repeatedly been snapped off, sabotaged and rejected by both PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat and Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas.
Earlier this year, Israel’s Civil Administration dismantled an illegal Arab encampment that was built with European Union funding during the Passover holiday. It wasn’t the first time the European Union has aided and abetted illegal construction by Palestinian Authority Arabs. The EU has aggressively worked for years to intervene in the internal affairs of the State of Israel, and the Palestinian Authority, attempting to create facts on the ground.