At it again: Carr rebukes Israel

AUSTRALIA’S Foreign Minister Bob Carr has again rebuked the Israeli government, following its approval of 1500 new housing units in East Jerusalem late last year, describing the move as an obstacle to peace.

“This approval throws yet another obstacle across the path to peace,” Carr said.

He said that continuing to approve expansion of settlements in East Jerusalem is especially provocative.

“If construction of these 1500 units proceeds it will make a negotiated two-state solution even harder to achieve.

“And without such a solution, there can be no prospect of durable security for Israelis or Palestinians.”

He urged the Israeli government to reconsider its decision and refrain from any further settlement activity.

The Foreign Minister’s latest comments came only two weeks after he summoned Israeli Ambassador to Australia Yuval Rotem to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade over the same issue.

Carr said Australia has been opposed to all settlement activity and that he was extremely disappointed with Israel’s decision.

But Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) president Danny Lamm said that settlements are not the barrier to peace.

“Israel dismantled all the settlements in the Gaza Strip in the pursuit of peace, and it merely spurred Hamas and other groups to higher levels of aggression … the Foreign Minister should instead be insisting on the Palestinians repudiating the so-called ‘right of return’, which, of all the core issues, makes peace impossible.”

This is not Carr’s only recent run-in with the Jewish community.

Federal Labor MP Michael Danby launched a stunning attack on Carr in December, accusing him of “acting like Tiberius on the telephone” to stop Australia voting against the United Nations resolution on Palestinian observer status.

Julia Gillard reportedly told cabinet that she wanted to vote against a resolution at the UN granting the Palestinian territories observer status. However, she backed down under pressure from her cabinet and parliamentary colleagues, including Carr.

JOSHUA LEVI

Foreign Minister Bob Carr.