US, UK, France blast Israeli confab on Gaza resettlement attended by PM’s allies
White House takes particular issue with ‘incendiary’
rhetoric on displacing Palestinians, saying it goes against what Netanyahu
claims is government policy
By JACOB
MAGID
(Jeremy Sharon/ The Times of Israel)
The White House on Monday slammed a conference on Sunday night in Jerusalem aimed at
encouraging the reestablishment of Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip, which
was attended by nearly one-third of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s
cabinet.
A statement issued by a National Security Council
spokesperson said the US is “troubled” by the gathering, particularly due to
the host of controversial statements by participants calling for the mass
displacement of Gaza’s Palestinian population.
“We have also been clear, consistent, and unequivocal
against the forced relocation of Palestinians outside of Gaza,” the White House
statement said.
“This rhetoric is incendiary and irresponsible, and we
take the prime minister at his word when he says that Israel does not intend to
reoccupy Gaza,” the statement added, implicitly urging Netanyahu to crack down
on such calls by his coalition partners.
Netanyahu said Saturday that the agenda advanced at
the conference does not represent his government’s policy, but the decision by
11 ministers and 15 coalition lawmakers to attend the gathering has raised
eyebrows both in Israel and around the world.
While the IDF insists the directive at the start of
the war for Palestinians in northern Gaza to evacuate from their homes was
issued in order to ensure they would not be caught in the crossfire, calls by
ministers for Palestinians to be encouraged to emigrate from Gaza and for
settlements to be reestablished there may well paint the evacuations in a
different light.
France also condemned the Sunday conference, with its
foreign ministry saying in a statement that it expected the Israeli government
to “clearly denounce the positions” championed at the gathering.
“In this respect, France recalls that the
International Court of Justice recently set out Israel’s obligation to take all
measures within its power to prevent and punish this kind of rhetoric,” the
foreign ministry statement added, referring to the ICJ initial ruling regarding
South Africa’s allegation that Israel is perpetrating genocide in Gaza.
“It is not up to the Israeli government to decide
where Palestinians should live on their land. The future of the Gaza Strip and
of its inhabitants falls within the framework of a unified Palestinian state
living in peace and security alongside Israel,” France added.
The UK Foreign Office said Tuesday that it was
“alarmed” by the conference.
“The UK’s position is clear: Gaza is occupied
Palestinian territory and will be part of the future Palestinian state,” its
statement said. “Settlements are illegal. No Palestinian should be threatened
with forcible displacement or relocation.”
Thousands of attendees from the religious Zionist
community attended Sunday’s boisterous conference.
Several of the lawmakers who addressed the event,
including far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, spoke about
“encouraging voluntary emigration” of Palestinians from Gaza, as well as
resettling the Strip, which Israel withdrew from in 2005. Participants broke
into singing and dancing, with Ben Gvir among those seen joining the
celebrations. Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi, a member of Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party, went further, suggesting that the emigration
need not be voluntary during wartime.
Netanyahu did not condemn the presence of senior
government officials at Sunday evening’s event, but ministers from the National
Unity party did, blasting the gathering as divisive and harmful to the
country’s war effort.
Meanwhile, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has
reportedly promised the US that he will not allow any resettlement on his
watch.
According to a report in
Axios Monday
citing four US and Israeli officials, Gallant told US officials last week he
wouldn’t allow settlements to be built in Gaza.
The report said Washington has rising concerns that a
one-kilometer buffer zone Israel plans to establish inside Gaza could be used
to rebuild settlements. These concerns were expressed during a meeting between
Gallant and US Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew and US envoy for humanitarian
affairs David Satterfield, Axios reported.
Gallant assured them that the buffer zone would be
temporary and would be for security purposes only, according to the report.
The Monday condemnation from the Biden administration
was the latest break with Israel over the latter’s prosecution of the war in
Gaza.
While the US has supported Israel from the outset, the
differences of approach between the two countries have grown, as the fighting
has progressed, over planning for after the war. Washington is pushing for a
reformed Palestinian Authority returning to govern Gaza as part of a broader
initiative that would see Saudi Arabia normalize ties with Israel, while
Jerusalem would agree to take steps to establish a pathway toward an eventual
Palestinian state.
Netanyahu reportedly rejected the framework earlier
this month. He has also dismissed allowing the PA to return to governing Gaza,
while refusing to articulate a viable alternative.
Also on Monday, a US official told The Times of Israel
that Israeli officials have told their American counterparts in recent days
that the buffer zone the IDF is establishing on the Gaza side of the border
with Israel is only meant to be temporary and will be removed once Hamas is
completely removed from power.
Over the past several weeks, the IDF has been razing
Palestinian homes along the border to establish the buffer zone, sparking alarm
in Washington, which has insisted that there be no reduction in Gaza’s
territory after the war.
The US official said that the Biden administration is
not on board with even a temporary buffer zone and has voiced that stance with
Jerusalem.
Washington believes that once established, Israel will
not agree to withdraw from the buffer zone, the US official added.
Lazar Berman contributed to this report.
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