Settlements no obstacle to peace: Israel’s Netanyahu

By Anees Bargouthi

JERUSALEM (AA) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday claimed that Jewish settlements built on occupied Arab land in the West Bank did not constitute "obstacles" to an eventual peace settlement with the Palestinians.

"I am sure that many of you have heard the claim that the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria [in the] West Bank are obstacles to peace," Netanyahu declared in a video statement.

He went on to allege that the Palestinian leadership sought a Palestinian state on the condition that it was "a state without Jews".

"There is a phrase for this," Netanyahu said. "It’s called ethnic cleaning."

Palestinian officials have yet to comment on the Israeli prime minister’s assertions.

International law views the Palestinian West Bank and East Jerusalem as "occupied territories" and considers all Jewish settlement building on the land to be illegal.

Some 500,000 Israelis currently live on more than 100 Jewish-only settlements built since Israel occupied the territories in 1967.

The Palestinians want the West Bank and East Jerusalem -- along with the Gaza Strip -- on which to eventually establish an independent state of Palestine.

But Palestinian negotiators insist that Israeli settlement building on occupied Arab land must stop before a comprehensive peace deal can be reached.