Netanyahu slammed over ‘ethnic cleansing’ remark

Israeli PM says Palestinian opposition to Israeli settlements in West Bank is “ethnic cleansing”.

Israel''s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a meeting of his Likud party meeting in the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem
Netanyahu has continued to push for Israeli settlements in the West Bank although they are considered illegal under international law [Reuters]

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has faced growing criticism after he attributed the Palestinian opposition to Israeli settlements in their territory with “ethnic cleansing”.

In a video released on Friday, Netanyahu rejected the notion that Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which are considered illegal under international law, were “an obstacle to peace”, drawing a rebuke from Washington.

Netanyahu noted “Israel’s diversity” which manifests in “the nearly two million Arabs living” in the Jewish state and reflects its “openness and readiness for peace.

“Yet the Palestinian leadership actually demands a Palestinian state with one pre-condition: No Jews,” he said.

“There’s a phrase for that: It’s called ethnic cleansing.”

The US State Department called the video “unhelpful” and “inappropriate”.

“We obviously strongly disagree with the characterisation that those who oppose settlement activity or view it as an obstacle to peace are somehow calling for ethnic cleansing of Jews from the West Bank,” spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau said on Friday.


READ MORE: Israel approves millions for West Bank settlements


“We believe that using that type of terminology is inappropriate and unhelpful,” she said.

“Settlements are a final status issue that must be resolved in negotiations between the parties.”

Israeli opposition member Tzipi Livni of the Zionist Union party accused Netanyahu of “trying to make political gains while creating diplomatic damage”.

She said the video had caused the US position to change from accepting settlement blocs to rejecting the entire West Bank enterprise.

“After Netanyahu’s video, the US is saying that all the settlements, including the blocs, are an obstacle, whereas in the past they were recognised,” she said in remarks relayed by a spokesman.

‘Imaginary reality’

Ayman Odeh, who heads the Joint List that groups the main Arab parties in parliament, accused Netanyahu of creating “an imaginary reality” and rejected the comparison between Israeli Arabs and Jewish West Bank settlers, who he said implement a policy of “ethnic cleansing”.

“Netanyahu doesn’t care that it is the settlements that were established precisely in order to cruelly expel Palestinian populaces from the West Bank to limited territories around the major cities,” he wrote on Facebook.

Peace efforts have been at a standstill since a US-led initiative collapsed in April 2014, with both Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas saying on Tuesday they were ready to meet to relaunch peace efforts.


READ MORE: Netanyahu renews rejection of French peace initiative


Russian President Vladimir Putin has been seeking to arrange a meeting between the two in Moscow.

International criticism of Israeli settlement building, including from the United States, has intensified in recent months.

Netanyahu’s government has nonetheless continued with the policy.

The settlements are considered illegal under international law and major obstacles to peace as they are built on land the Palestinians see as part of their future state.

Source: News Agencies