Palestinian state not viable with Israel's settlements: Saudi FM (AFP)
9 minutes ago
UNITED NATIONS (AFP) - The Saudi foreign minister told the UN Security Council Friday that Israel's settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank makes a viable Palestinian state impossible.
"Settlement makes the creation of a viable Palestinian state impossible," Prince Saud al-Faisal said during a council debate called on the Jewish state's settlement expansion in the West Bank.
The debate was taking place only hours after the Middle East diplomatic Quartet was due to hold a ministerial session here to review prospects for peace between Israelis and Palestinians in the wake of the US-sponsored Annapolis process launched last November.
"The only path to Israel's security is peace and it is time for Israel to understand that it cannot continue to exempt itself from behaving in accordance to international law," the Saudi foreign minister added.
Monday, Saudi Arabia formally called for an urgent ministerial meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss Israeli settlement activities in "the occupied Palestinian territories."
The construction of settlements -- viewed as a major obstacle to reaching a peace deal -- has nearly doubled since 2007, despite Israel's pledge to freeze such activities, the Israeli watchdog Peace Now said last month.
Israel's new UN Ambassador Gabriela Shalev however told the 15-member council that while the settlements are a "delicate issue", they "are not an obstacle to peace."
"They have been used here as another instrument to bash Israel instead of addressing the realities on the ground," she added.
"There is much that those in the region can do to support that (peace) process, but it is not about more UN meetings," she said. "It is, first and foremost, about commitment to prepare the people of the region for the price of peace, to accept the true meaning of peace."
In Annapolis, Maryland last November, Israel and the Palestinians revived negotiations toward resolving core problems like the status of Jerusalem, the borders of a future Palestinian state and refugees.
The parties set the goal of a peace deal by the end of 2008, but that target is looking increasingly difficult to meet.
Saudi foreign minister Prince Saud al-Faisal, seen here on September 8, 2008, told the UN Security Council Friday that Israel" class="newsimage" />