Germany criticizes Israeli settlement plans
JERUSALEM - Germany is criticizing Israel's plans to build some 3,000 new housing units in West Bank settlements, saying they undermine the possibility of a two-state solution to the long conflict with the Palestinians.
The anti-settlement monitoring group Peace Now says that Israel this week advanced plans for the new units. The German Foreign Ministry called Thursday for Israel to refrain from going ahead with the plans.
The ministry says new "settlements are not the only obstacle to a two-state solution, but each new housing unit consolidates a one-state reality in which the Palestinians are denied the ability to fully exercise their political rights."
