REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, For first time, Britain, France may recall ambassadors to protest Israel's settlement construction, according to Haaretz on Monday. Moves against Israel will be made in the next few days following Netanyahu’s decision to move ahead on planning in E1 and build 3,000 housing units in the settlement blocs, and in East Jerusalem, say senior European diplomats.
Such measure may be taken in protest at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to move settlement construction ahead in the area known as E1, between Ma’aleh Adumim and Jerusalem.
"If implemented, these plans would alter the situation on the ground on a scale that makes the two-state solution, with Jerusalem as a shared capital, increasingly difficult to achieve," British Foreign Secretary William Hague said in a statement.
"They would undermine Israel's international reputation and create doubts about its stated commitment to achieving peace with the Palestinians."
Hague's French counterpart, Laurent Fabius, spoke of E1 as "the new colonization zone" and said the Israeli expansion plan could "drain the confidence needed for a return to dialogue".
"I call upon the Israeli authorities to abstain from any decision in this direction and to manifest clearly their desire to restart negotiations," Fabius said in a statement.
Israel says Thursday's upgrade of the Palestinians' status at the United Nations to "non-member state" from "entity" could allow them to sidestep disputes such as territorial demarcation that should be addressed in negotiations.
The Israelis were further incensed by what they deemed an inflammatory UN speech by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, and said the upgrade resolution neglected the Jewish state's security and need for its own sovereignty to be recognized.
Abbas also claims the Palestinian sovereignty in Gaza, but the coastal strip is ruled by rival Hamas Islamists who are deeply hostile to the Jewish state and fought an eight-day war against it last month.
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