Foreign ministers from European countries, Australia, and the United Kingdom on Friday condemned Israel's plans to construct a settlement east of Jerusalem, they said in a joint statement. "We condemn this decision and call for its immediate reversal in the strongest terms," said ministers from Australia, Belgium, Britain, Canada, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.
"The decision by the Israeli Higher Planning Committee to approve plans for settlement construction in the E1 area, East of Jerusalem, is unacceptable and a violation of international law," the statement said. The Foreign Ministry "rejects the attempt to impose foreign dictates upon it [Jerusalem]," it said Friday.
"The historic right of Jews to live anywhere in the Land of Israel – the birthplace of the Jewish people – is indisputable," the ministry argued. "There is no other nation in the world that has a stronger, longer-standing, and better-documented connection to its land than the Jewish people has to the Land of Israel, and this connection and right do not require the affirmation of foreign governments." (Read More)
