Netanyahu vows to not dismantle settlements

[Jefferson23]

Israeli prime minister pledges to not make any settlers leave occupied West Bank if he wins Tuesday's general election.

Last Modified: 18 Jan 2013


Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister, has said no settlements in the occupied West Bank will be dismantled if he wins next week's general election.

In an interview with Israel’s Maariv newspaper published on Friday, Netanyahu was asked: "Can you promise that during the next four years, no settlement will be dismantled?"

"Yes," Netanyahu answered. "The days when bulldozers uprooted Jews are behind us, not in front of us. Our record proves it."

"We haven't uprooted any settlements, we have expanded them," he said, recalling that his government had established the first university in a settlement, in Ariel deep in the West Bank.

remainder: http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/01/201311884833316812.html

[oberliner]

1. Livni: PM advancing settlements to serve his own interests

Tzipi Livni on Wednesday criticized the issuing of some 200 new tenders for housing units in the West Bank settlements of Efrat and Kiryat Arba.

Livni accused Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu of sacrificing Israel's relationship with the United States "for his own political interests on the eve of elections."

http://www.jpost.com/Headlines/Article.aspx?id=299758

Hopefully it will backfire.

Nobody gave Livni a chance in the last election and her party won the most seats.

Maybe the polls will be off this time too.

[oberliner]

2. Does this surprise you? nt

[Jefferson23]

3. Does what surprise me...your post about Livni or the OP?

If about Bibi, no. True to form. What is sad to me, is how many Israeli's share that sentiment.

[oberliner]

4. The OP

I agree with your assessment and share your sorrow.

Fingers crossed for a January election surprise.

[azurnoir]

5. an easily kept campaign promise

and did we actually expect anything else from Bibi, we hoped but......