'Peace plan needed.' Mofaz
Photo: AFP
'No vision.' Netanyahu
Photo: Gil Yohanan
Mofaz: Lack of peace plan led to settlement freeze
Kadima MK tells Ynet that by not presenting his own peace plan, PM Netanyahu gave Obama Administration no choice but to demand West Bank construction moratorium. 'Settlement blocs asset, will determine Israel's eastern border,' he says
Just three weeks after presenting his comprehensive peace plan, Knesset Member Shaul Mofaz criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision to temporarily halt settlement construction.
Referring to repeated calls by the Obama Administration for a West Bank construction moratorium, the Kadima member told Ynet, "By not presenting a peace plan of his own, Netanyahu did not give the Americans any choice. The Obama Administration wanted Israel to express a willingness to reach a peace agreement and present a plan to that end.
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"This situation, in which the PM is equating the status of the settlement blocs to that of the outposts, is unprecedented. The blocs are an asset to the State of Israel, and they will eventually determine the country's eastern border," said Mofaz.
"Without settlement blocs, we won’t have defensible borders, because the 1967 borders are not defensible," he said.
According to Mofaz, a former defense minister and IDF chief of staff, the construction freeze will not result in a diplomatic breakthrough. "The Palestinians are saying that the moratorium is insufficient. Netanyahu must present a plan. When there is no vision and no clear policy, then Israel succumbs to American pressure," said the MK.
"Netanyahu's speech (at Bar-Ilan University) also stemmed form American pressure," said Mofaz.
In his address, delivered in June, the PM endorsed the creation of a Palestinian state that would exist alongside Israel for the first time.
