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Itongadol.- Australia’s Foreign Minister Julie Bishop called on Israel Wednesday to reconsider its appropriation last week of 988 acres of land in the West Bank, breaking with what has been seen as a tolerant stance in Canberra toward Israeli settlement activity.
Bishop’s statement came as international pressure was mounting for Israel to rescind the land appropriation near the settlement of Gvaot south of Jerusalem. On Tuesday, five European envoys protested the Israeli decision, according to Haaretz, following calls in Washington for Jerusalem to rethink the move.
“Australia calls on Israel to reconsider the decision,” Bishop said in a Foreign Ministry release. “The announcement is unhelpful so soon after the Gaza conflict. The priority for all parties must now be on working through the terms laid out in the ceasefire agreement.”
Bishop added that she had raised Australia’s concerns with Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman in a meeting on Monday, asserting that the move “undermines prospects for a negotiated two-state solution.”
On August 31, the IDF’s Civil Administration, the military government in the West Bank, announced that per instructions from Jerusalem, “4,000 dunams at (the settlement of) Gvaot is declared as state land,” and said concerned parties had 45 days to appeal the decision.
The move drew condemnation from various quarters, including from the UN, EU, UK and US, which called on Israel to reverse the move, as well as Israeli politicians from the center and left wing.
For his part, Liberman last week responded to criticism by defending the appropriation, contending that “the official policy of the Israeli government is that the settlement blocs will remain under Israeli sovereignty under any future peace agreement.”
The condemnation of Israel’s move came in stark contrast to Bishop’s previous statements regarding settlement activity.
In an exclusive interview with The Times of Israel in January, Bishop suggested that, contrary to conventional diplomatic wisdom, the settlements may not be illegal under international law. She refrained from condemning Israeli initiatives to build additional housing units beyond the Green Line or from calling on Israel to freeze such plans, merely saying the fact that settlements were being expanded showed the need for the sides to quickly reach a peace agreement.
Asked in that interview whether she agrees or disagrees with the near-universal view that Israeli settlements anywhere beyond the 1967 lines are illegal under international law, she replied: “I would like to see which international law has declared them illegal.”