True Left

"We think this Irish position is not constructive for the peace process." [WHAT A SICK JOKE THAT STATEMENT IS!!!]
- The Israeli ambassador to Ireland spoke to Kieran Cuddihy on The Hard Shoulder.

He also claimed efforts to get him expelled were motivated by hate.

A motion was approved in the Dáil on Wednesday, recognising Israeli settlements on Palestinian land as 'de facto annexation'.

Ireland is the first European Union country to formally use these terms.

However a Solidarity-People Before Profit amendment to expel Ambassador Kariv was voted down.

Ambassador Kariv told The Hard Shoulder his country does not recognise "the new Irish position".

"We don't accept it, we think this Irish position is not constructive for the peace process.

"It touches upon one of the main issues that are supposed to be dealt with in final status negotiations with the Palestinians - and that is the future of the Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria - what is called the West Bank.

"This kind of a resolution, or an agreement on then future of these communities, can be reached only on direct negotiations between the two sides and in no other way.

"So we believe this motion, and this new Irish position, takes us away from direct negotiations.

"This statement that the existence of those Jewish communities or Israeli communities constitute what is called here 'de facto annexation' is new - and it's not positive and does not contribute anything to the peace process."

Asked why what is happening in the West Bank is not de facto annexation, he said: "The situation in the West Bank is a temporary [one], it's not the final status of the land.

"This is still disputed, and the future of this part of the land is disputed, and this is why we have to renew negotiations with the Palestinians - which unfortunately, they have been refusing to do so for many years."

Asked if this meant that the settlements could be dismantled, he said: "I don't know what, when and where, if at all.

"But if we look at the past, which is what we can draw on, you could see that whenever real peace, and a real chance of peace was on the agenda, Israel knew how to make very painful concessions.

"And also uproot Jewish communities - and we saw it happening in the Sinai, in the framework of our peace agreement with Egypt, and we saw it in Gaza in 2005."

Noreen Jawad
18 hours ago
Doesn't matter that isreali accept it or not , facts are facts and everyone knows them.