Jerusalem, November 02: Israel plans to move ahead with construction of about 2,000 homes in West Bank settlements and Jerusalem, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced in the wake of Palestinian membership in Unesco.
Some of the apartments will be built in Maale Adumim, one of the biggest Jewish settlements, and in the cluster of settlements known as Gush Etzion, Netanyahu’s office said in a text message sent late yesterday to reporters. Others will be in parts of Jerusalem that Israel annexed and Palestinians want to include in a future state.
The new homes will be built “in areas that in any future arrangement will remain in Israeli hands,” Netanyahu said in the statement.
Hanan Ashrawi, a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization Executive Committee, called the step “an obituary for the peace process.”
Palestine was admitted as the 195th member of the Paris- based United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization by a 107-14 vote on Oct. 31. The U.S. announced it would withhold about $60 million from the agency this year because federal law prohibits funding UN organizations that treat the PLO as a member-state.
A PLO delegation represents the Palestinians at the UN. The U.S. has opposed statehood efforts, saying Palestinians should negotiate a peace agreement with Israel first.
More steps are being considered by Netanyahu’s eight-member inner cabinet, the statement said.
Unesco Funding
Israel may curtail its own funding of Unesco, Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz said yesterday before the housing decision was announced. Israel pays an annual $2 million to the organization, according to its Foreign Ministry.
“It would be odd to continue transferring funds to the organization when the U.S. itself has stopped the payments,” Steinitz said yesterday in an interview with Israel Radio.
The Security Council meets on Nov. 11 to discuss the final report of experts on the viability of the Sept. 23 Palestinian application for UN membership. The Palestinians may circumvent the Security Council and try to upgrade their UN status to “non-member state” from “entity” in the UN General Assembly, where they need a majority and the U.S. has no veto.
Palestinians plan to seek full membership in 16 more United Nations agencies following their acceptance by Unesco.
Groups to be pursued include the World Food Program, the UN Conference on Trade and Development, the UN Children’s Fund and the International Trade Center, according to a list obtained from the Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
Foreign Minister Riad Malki said on Oct. 31 that Palestinian leaders are focused on trying to obtain full UN membership through the Security Council. If that fails, they will “discuss all options,” he said in a phone interview. The U.S. has vowed to veto the move.
The other agencies targeted for membership by the Palestinians, according to the list, are the UN Refugee Agency, the UN Development Program, the UN Capital Development Fund, UN Volunteers, the UN International Drug Control Program, the UN Environment Program, the UN Human Settlements Program, the UN Population Fund, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees, the UN Mine Action Service, the Ad Hoc Open-Ended Group of Experts on Energy and Sustainable Development and the Ad Hoc Working Group on Informatics.
–Agencies–