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Settlements thwart Kerry's peace plan

The harsh comments by Israel's Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon make clear the obstacles facing US Secretary of State John Kerry's peace plan.
Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon (2nd L) gets out of a military jeep during a visit to an army base near Kibbutz Kissufim outside the central Gaza Strip May 7, 2013. Israel played down weekend air strikes close to Damascus reported to have killed dozens of Syrian soldiers, saying they were not aimed at influencing its neighbour's civil war but only at stopping Iranian missiles reaching Lebanese Hezbollah militants. REUTERS/Amir Cohen (ISRAEL - Tags: MILITARY POLITICS) - RTXZDJS

What was expected did actually happen.

When US Secretary of State John Kerry undertook his mission to handle the Israeli-Palestinian conflict each time Israel would announce its determination to build more settlements. This exercise of “negotiating” followed simultaneously by more settlements constitutes a pattern that has been introduced since the Oslo Accord. It is now undertaken in a much more sustained manner. Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon provided in a crude language that so-called “negotiations” and “framework agreement” proposed by Kerry is thus treated as an interruption, which delays and perhaps stifles Israeli objectives.

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