LONDON (Reuters) – Britain condemned Israeli settlements yesterday as “deliberate vandalism” of efforts to establish a Palestinian state, and warned that time was running out for the peace process in the Middle East.
The comments on Jewish settlements by Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, and on the peace process by Prime Minister David Cameron, bolster Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas as negotiators attempt to revive moribund peace talks.
Clegg’s comments were some of Britain’s strongest yet on the Middle East’s most intractable conflict.
“Once you place physical facts on the ground which make it impossible to deliver what everyone has for years agreed is the ultimate destination, then you do immense damage,” Clegg said during a visit to London by Abbas, referring to settlements impeding efforts to create a Palestinian state alongside Israel.
“It’s an act of deliberate vandalism to the basic premise upon which negotiations have taken place for years and that is why we have expressed our concerns as a government in increasingly forceful terms,” he told reporters.
He prefaced his comments by saying there was no stronger supporter of Israel than himself.
Abbas is on a tour of Europe while negotiators from both sides undertake initial discussions on resuming full talks.
The exploratory discussions began on Jan 3 and followed a long break in negotiations after Abbas suspended talks 15 months ago over Israel’s expansion of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, where Palestinians want to found a state.
All parties to the talks have accepted the ultimate goal of a “two-state solution”, which would see a Palestinian state established alongside Israel. The sides remain divided over its borders, the fate of Palestinian refugees and other issues.
Israel says such issues can be resolved only at talks with no preconditions and accuses Abbas of squandering a previous, partial moratorium that it placed on settlement expansion.
