Netanyahu vows to continue settlement construction in case of reelection

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he will press ahead with settlement construction in East al-Quds (Jerusalem) if he wins the upcoming general election.

“We will continue to build in [East al-Quds] Jerusalem, we will add thousands of housing units … in the face of all the pressure,” Netanyahu said during his electoral campaign in Jabal Abu Ghneim settlement in East al-Quds on Monday.

The Israeli premier said Palestinians would never be allowed to establish their capital in the city in case of his reelection, adding, “I won’t let that happen. My friends and I in Likud will preserve the unity of [East al-Quds] Jerusalem.”

He also boasted about his role in the construction of Jabal Abu Ghneim settlement in 1997 during his first term of office as the Israeli premier, saying he had defied tremendous international pressure to carry out his plan.

“I thought we had to protect the southern gateway to Jerusalem by building here … There was huge objection, because this neighborhood is in a location which prevents the Palestinian (territorial) contiguity,” admitted Netanyahu during his address, while there was a picture of the notorious settlement neighborhood in the backdrop of the stage.

He also warned that he would never recognize the establishment of the Palestinian state.

In an interview with the right-wing NRG website on the eve of the election, he ruled out the establishment of a Palestinian state, which has already been recognized by several countries.

Netanyahu’s comments came a day before Israel’s parliamentary election as his Likud Party is facing a tough challenge against competitors.

A poll conducted by Israeli research institute, Panel Politics, found that Isaac Herzog’s Zionist Union, which identifies itself as center-leftist, could earn 24 seats against Likud’s 21 projected seats in the Knesset (Israeli parliament).

Israel has tried to change the demographic makeup of al-Quds over the past decades by constructing illegal settlements, destroying historical sites and expelling the local Palestinian population.

More than half a million Israelis live in over 120 illegal settlements built since Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and East al-Quds in 1967.

Much of the international community regards the Israeli settlements as illegal because the territories were occupied by Israel in 1967, and they are hence subject to the Geneva Conventions, which forbid construction on occupied lands.

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