Mideast Quartet Slams Violent Settlers
The Quartet for the Middle East is concerned over ongoing settler violence and incitement in the West Bank, a statement following ameeting of the group’s foreign ministers said on Wednesday, adding that negotiations, not settlement expansion, would solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The message was released following a Washington meeting, participated by United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, United States Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton, as well as by Quartet Representative Tony Blair and by Foreign Minister of Jordan Nasser Judeh.
On Monday, Palestinian UN observer Riyad Mansour sent a protest letter to the UN Security Council, accusing Israel of systematically destroying prospects for a two-state solution to their decades-long conflict with its continuing campaign of settlement building.
Mansour said Israel’s “illegal and destructive plans” to build new settlements underscore “the dubious nature” of its claims of readiness to negotiate a peace deal.
In a statement on Wednesday, the Quartet “expressed its concern over ongoing settler violence and incitement in the West Bank,” calling on Israel “to take effective measures, including bringing the perpetrators of such acts to justice.”
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