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APN Denounces New West Bank Settlements

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Washington, DC - Americans for Peace Now joins its Israeli sister organization, Peace Now, in strongly denouncing the Israeli government's authorizing of three new West Bank settlements, thus violating its commitment not to establish new settlements and reneging on its longstanding commitment to remove illegal outposts.

APN commends the Obama administration and the European Union for criticizing the Israeli government's move and calls on the Obama administration to urge Prime Minister Netanyahu to stop taking unilateral steps that create more obstacles in the way of a two-state solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Commenting on the development APN President and CEO Debra DeLee said: "On the eve of Israel's Independence Day, the government of Benjamin Netanyahu announced the authorization of three West Bank illegal outposts: Bruchin, Rechelim and Sansana, which were built in violation of Israeli law. Previous Israeli governments have repeatedly committed to dismantling these outposts. Netanyahu's government instead reneged on these promises and decided instead to make a mockery of the rule of law by "legalizing" the illegal, legitimizing the illegitimate."

"This is not a technical development. This decision of the Netanyahu government is in practice the establishment of three new settlements in the West Bank, two of which are located deep inside the West Bank, and one east of Israel's "separation" barrier. Indeed, Israel's minister of education, Gideon Saar, today thanked Prime Minster Netanyahu for 'giving three new settlements to the people of Israel.'"

"Israel needs security, viability, and world support. The last thing the people of Israel needs on its Independence Day is three more obstacles to peace. It needs to celebrate many more years of independence as a Jewish state and a democracy. More settlements will achieve the opposite."

For more on the establishment of the three settlements see this backgrounder on Peace Now's web site.http://peacenow.org.il/eng/rechelim-bruchin-sansana