Meretz: East Jerusalem construction makes a mockery of Netanyahu’s professed desire for peace

The Meretz party’s Knesset faction will be submitting a motion of no-confidence in the Netanyahu government over its ongoing massive construction in East Jerusalem. This week, Israel authorized the construction of 1,600 new housing units in East Jerusalem’s Ramat Shlomo neighborhood, creating a diplomatic crisis during the visit of US Vice President Biden. The Meretz faction termed the Netanyahu government’s moves, “the policy of a pyromaniac”.Meretz chair, MK Haim Oron, attacked the government in a press release: “This is an inebriated government [“Adloyada government”, in Hebrew], which, by its own hand, is making a dangerous mockery of its professed desire to renew diplomacy.”

Relating to the government’s apology over the timing of the Ramat Shlomo authorization – but not its substance – Oron stated: “The attempt of the government’s ministers to grasp at procedural failures and say that there were flaws in the decision’s timing – only makes things worse. They should save us this pack of lies: the problem is the substance, not the procedure.”

“This is what the Netanyahu government is all about,” Oron concluded. “This decision just shows that its talk about the need to restart negotiations with the Palestinians is nothing but empty declarations, without a single ounce of honesty. Netanyahu seeks peace with Israel’s fanatics, not with the Palestinians.”