Subscribe to Print Edition | Sat., July 04, 2009 Tamuz 12, 5769 | | Israel Time: 22:41 (EST+7)
Haaretz israel news English
web haaretz.com
Haaretz Toolbar
Diplomacy
Defense Jewish World Opinion National
Print Edition
Car Rental
Books Haaretz Magazine Business Real Estate Focus U.S.A. Travel Week's End Anglo File
Share |
Last update - 16:26 02/07/2009
Merkel: Settlements ruin efforts for 2-state solution
By Reuters
Tags: West Bank settlements 

German Chancellor Angela Merkel demanded on Thursday that Israel halt construction in the West Bank settlements, saying it endangered efforts to achieve a two-state solution with the Palestinians.

"I think it is now important to get commitments from all sides and that includes the issue of settlement building," Merkel said in a speech to the Bundestag lower house of parliament.

"I am convinced that there must be a stop to this. Otherwise we will not come to the two-state solution that is urgently needed."
Advertisement
Merkel's remarks are in line with the positions of the European Union and the United States, but were unusually clear-cut for the German leader, who regularly cites her country's special obligation to Israel because of the Holocaust, in which six million Jews were deliberately murdered.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has said U.S.-backed peace talks with Israel cannot resume until all settlement activity has ceased on captured land the Palestinians want for a state.

Washington has also called for a total halt to settlement building in the West Bank, a demand that has opened the most serious rift in U.S.-Israeli relations in a decade.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak said on Wednesday that Israel would consider a limited moratorium on new settlement construction, but said it should be part of a broader deal bringing Arab states into the peace process.

Related articles:
  • Is a crushed Israel in America's best interest?
  • Netanyahu: Obama was right, U.S.-Israel bond unbreakable
  • Netanyahu: EU receptive to Israel stance on Palestinian statehood
    • PROMOTION: Mamilla Hotel
    Bookmark to del.icio.us  
     
    Refaeli in the nude
    24-year-old Israeli supermodel reveals all in a new and artistic promotional video
    Closet democracies
    Writer Neil MacFarquhar reveals unexpected insights to an ever-changing Mideast
      1.   Unexpected 14:06  |  Axel 02/07/09
      2.   Merkel settlements ruin effort for 2 state solution 14:12  |  flo 02/07/09
      3.   I used to like Merkel a lot... 14:15  |  Nechama 02/07/09
      4.   Time to move settlers back 14:39  |  raffa 02/07/09
      5.   Two States Isn`t A Solution: ONLY Israel Is 14:41  |  Yishai Kohen 02/07/09
      6.   Hmmmm, Barak appears to be in a chorus of...one. 14:57  |  Johnboy 02/07/09
      7.   merkel declares new judenrein in judea and samara 15:02  |  v hardman 02/07/09
      8.   Merkel 15:07  |  joe 02/07/09
      9.   Shoe of hands: Anyone for settlement expansion? 15:11  |  Natallie Durson 02/07/09
      10.   A united world takes on the "natural growth" sham. 15:30  |  Saga French 02/07/09
      11.   hardman 15:31  |  michael 02/07/09
      12.   #1 jb how many nations supported czechoslovakia 15:36  |  v hardman 02/07/09
      13.   "land the Palestinians want for a state. " 15:36  |  17 02/07/09
      14.   Ms Dullson 15:38  |  tony 02/07/09
      15.   Congratulations Angela Merkel 15:41  |  sh 02/07/09
      16.   Natallie 15:45  |  Denizen 02/07/09
      17.   :: The whole worlds can see the problem... 15:48  |  Matty Groves 02/07/09
      18.   v hardman: The irony, oh g`d the irony.. 15:50  |  Swen 02/07/09
      19.   The deginning of the end of the Greater Israel. 15:53  |  Labhras 02/07/09
      20.   #2 v hardman 15:55  |  Cool B 02/07/09
      21.   Bit by bit, inch by inch... 15:55  |  Mary 02/07/09
      22.   You guys could stop us 60 years ago. Now it`s too late. 16:06  |  Vitaly 02/07/09
      23.   Show of hands: who thinks Hamas will win the next elections? 16:28  |  Joe Sittizen 02/07/09
      24.   Mark this day 16:33  |  Axel 02/07/09
      25.   One would think 16:50  |  steve from raleigh 02/07/09
      26.   #5 labarse of arabia and the premature news flash 16:59  |  v hardman 02/07/09
      27.   Merkel: Settlements 17:01  |  Yochanan 02/07/09
      28.   Obama,Merkel defeated by Arabs 17:11  |  Chappaqua neighbor 02/07/09
      29.   No connection between the 2 issues 17:14  |  Frank 02/07/09
      30.   Natalie: the Pro Israel Basher 17:33  |  Gershon 02/07/09
      31.   v hardman/ new juderein... 17:39  |  Anne 02/07/09
      32.   Time is running out! 17:43  |  Sens 02/07/09
      33.   Who are settlers 17:46  |  Boruch 02/07/09
      34.   #4 Durson: It is called re-export .. 17:47  |  Diamonds are Forever 02/07/09
      35.   Yes They Do 17:48  |  Vladek 02/07/09
      36.   Selective hearing 17:51  |  Ussishkin 02/07/09
      37.   #31 the g8 should be far more concerned about human rights 18:48  |  v hardman 02/07/09
      38.   # 21 mary 19:01  |  Axel 02/07/09
      39.   # 22 vitaly 19:03  |  Axel 02/07/09
      40.   U.S. Jews 19:09  |  Deborah 02/07/09
      41.   # 23 joe 19:12  |  Axel 02/07/09
      42.   Merkel "demanded" 19:20  |  Anthony 02/07/09
      43.   Harman 7 19:22  |  Anthony 02/07/09
      44.   Settlements Ruin Two-State Solution? 19:22  |  Heather Czerniak 02/07/09
      45.   Merkel 19:27  |  fredyr 02/07/09
      46.   Angela Merkel 19:52  |  Albrecht Klein 02/07/09
      47.   Have we all forgotten... 20:38  |  Mark 02/07/09
      48.   Boruch/33 21:42  |  Deacon2 02/07/09
      49.   Lets think about a Palestinian State 22:21  |  RfaelMoshe 02/07/09
      50.   # 41 mark 22:50  |  Axel 02/07/09
      51.   # 33 boruch 22:52  |  Axel 02/07/09
      52.   # 47 rfaelmoshe 22:56  |  Axel 02/07/09
      53.   #49 Yeah, RfaelMoshe, put your thinking cap on. 06:07  |  Johnboy 03/07/09
      54.   #1 Axel, I suspect that Obama has been having a few quiet words 06:11  |  Johnboy 03/07/09
      55.   # 51 johnboy 10:27  |  Axel 03/07/09
      56.   # 33 boruch 11:28  |  Axel 03/07/09
      57.   #52 Aint`t that the truth, Axel 03:42  |  Johnboy 04/07/09
    Special Offers
    Advertisement
    hotel Jerusalem
    David Citadel Hotel, come stay at the finest of Jerusalem hotels.
    ISRAEL ARMY SURPLUS STORE
    IDF insignia,Uniforms, Paladium Boots Watches, Israel Army T-shirts & Collectibles
    Dead Sea Skin Care
    Quality cosmetics from the Dead Sea. Coupon code HAARETZ for 12% off!
    Eldan Rent a Car
    Israel's leading car rental company offers you a 20% discount on online reservations
    Junkyard
    Junk a car - get free towing nationwide and a tax-deductible receipt
    More Headlines
    20:05 Police clash with Haredi protesters in Jerusalem
    16:30 Ben Eliezer: U.S. inaction in face of N. Korea, Iran, is troubling
    16:29 'Iran nuke could wipe Israel off map in seconds'
    18:21 U.S. warns North Korea: Don't aggravate tensions
    22:20 Biden: That SOB Saddam is rolling over in his grave
    16:57 Why did Ben Gurion call Begin a 'Hitlerist type'?
    07:07 WATCH: Bar Refaeli's naked photo shoot in Israel
    20:58 WATCH: Daily news round-up from Israel
    14:07 Hamas man suspected of trying to assassinate PA officials
    18:55 Egypt denies Israeli sub sailed Suez Canal
    19:39 Burglars steal top cop's gun, car while he sleeps
    10:00 Obama: Build on Arab plan for Mideast peace
    10:27 Iran charges U.K. embassy employee over election unrest
    Home | TV | Print Edition | Diplomacy | Opinion | Arts & Leisure | Sports | Jewish World | Site rules |
    | Israel 2009 election results | Makom: Engaging on Israel
    | Search engine marketing
    Haaretz.com, the online edition of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel, offers real-time breaking news, opinions and analysis from Israel and the Middle East. Haaretz.com provides extensive and in-depth coverage of Israel, the Jewish World and the Middle East, including defense, diplomacy, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the peace process, Israeli politics, Jerusalem affairs, international relations, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the Israeli business world and Jewish life in Israel and the Diaspora.
    © Copyright  Haaretz. All rights reserved