European foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has criticized Israel’s announced plans to build a new neighborhood in East Jerusalem and expand another, warning such action “would be deeply detrimental to a two-state-solution.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Thursday that 3,000 homes would be built for Jewish residents in a new neighborhood in Givat Hamatos, in addition to another 2,200 housing units for Jews in the nearby Har Homa neighborhood.
Borrell in a statement said that “such steps would cut the geographic and territorial contiguity between Jerusalem and Bethlehem, isolate Palestinian communities living in these areas, and threaten the viability of a two-state solution, with Jerusalem as capital of both states.”
He said the European Union would not recognize any changes to Israel’s pre-1967 borders and urged Jerusalem to reconsider its plan.
The EU statement followed similar criticism from France and Germany on Friday. The countries said they were “deeply concerned” and warned that Netanyahu’s plan “directly undermines the viability of a future Palestinian state.” READ MORE
