- WASHINGTON (AFP) -- Given
the reality of Palestinian demographics, Israeli settlements imperil the
future of Israel as a Jewish state and must end immediately, the top US
diplomat for the Middle East said in remarks released overnight.
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- In addition, Israel's construction of a controversial
security barrier in the West Bank will likely undermine any hope of reaching
a permanent peace settlement with the Palestinians and achieving a two-state
resolution to the long-running conflict, the diplomat said.
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- While stressing the absolute necessity for Palestinians
to end anti-Israeli violence as a first step in restarting the languishing
peace process, William Burns, assistant secretary of state for near eastern
affairs, said Israel must accept the reality of the situation on the ground
and do its part, as well.
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- "The demographic picture is very stark," he
said in an address to the George Marshall Foundation yesterday, a transcript
of which was released by the State Department overnight.
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- "Within the next decade or so, Jews will be a minority
in the area encompassing Israel, the West Bank and Gaza," Burns said.
"As Israeli settlements expand and their populations increase, it
becomes increasingly difficult to see how the two peoples will be separated
into two states.
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- "The fact is that settlements continue to grow today,
encouraged by specific government policies - and at enormous expense to
Israel's economy," he said.
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- "And this persists even as it becomes clear that
the logic of settlements and the reality of demographics could threaten
the future of Israel as a Jewish democracy," Burns said.
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- "For friends of Israel, the conclusion is hard to
escape," he said. "Settlement activity must stop, because it
ultimately undermines Israeli as well as Palestinian interests."
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- Burns also called the security barrier - for which Washington
has already said it will penalise Israel by deducting loan guarantees -
a "significant problem" that "prejudices negotiations and,
like settlement activity, takes us further from the two-state goal".
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- Under the internationally drafted Middle East peace plan
known as the "road map", Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's
government is required to freeze settlement activity and dismantle around
60 West Bank outposts set up since he came to power in March 2001.
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- Since the "road map" was launched in June,
the number of outposts has remained largely unchanged - some were dismantled
with great fanfare, but a similar number have been set up by radical settlers
- while the peace plan has floundered amid a new cycle of violence.
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- Late last month, Israel granted "permanent settlement"
status to at least five West Bank outposts, sparking Palestinian accusations
that it had breached the road map.
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- The Palestinians have levelled similar charges against
Israel for its insistence on constructing the security barrier, parts of
which are planned to encroach on Palestinian territory.
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- Defying US and other international pressure, Israel overnight
began construction on a new tranche of the barrier close to a heavily populated
West Bank settlement, which at times will cut around two kilometres into
Palestinian territory.
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- A United Nations report released on Wednesday said the
barrier - only 11 per cent of which conforms to the "Green Line",
the boundary between Israel and the West Bank - will lead to severe humanitarian
consequences for more than 680,000 Palestinians.
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- Copyright 2003 News Limited.
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- http://news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,7863880%255E1702,00.html
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