Denmark criticises Israeli settlement building in East Jerusalem

Denmark's Foreign Minister Villy Soevndal "strongly" criticized Israel's decision to construct new homes in East Jerusalem. "The Israeli decision last week to proceed with plans to build a new Jewish neighbourhood in the Palestinian part of Jerusalem is completely unacceptable and a marked intensification of the settlement policy that we already disagree with," Villy Soevndal said in an official statement cited by Danish media Tuesday. Israel announced last week that it planned to build some 2,600 new homes, on 950 acres of land in the Givat Hamatos district. This marks the first large-scale Jewish settlement in the occupied territories in 25 years. Soevndal also criticized the "Israeli decision to make smaller settlements in the Palestinian West Bank legal under Israeli law." "On the contrary, Israel is obliged to remove those settlements," he added in the statement. Soevndal believes the new settlement would "significantly" hinder the prospect of Israel-Palestine peace talks led by the Middle East Quartet, which comprises the UN, the United States, the European Union (EU) and Russia. "I am extremely concerned that the Quartet's request to return to the negotiating table will be in vain when Israel makes such strong and detrimental decisions in direct conflict with the Quartet's clear calls to refrain from provocative actions," Soevndal stated. In late September, the Quartet called on the Israelis and the Palestinians to resume peace negotiations within one month, even as the Palestinians sought statehood at the UN, and Israel continued settlement expansion. Soevndal, who was appointed foreign minister early October, confirmed last week to local media that Denmark's new center-left coalition government would support Palestinian statehood on the condition that other member states of the EU do so as well.