Netanyahu’s government tries to stave off east Jerusalem settler house evacuation

Netanyahu’s government tries to save settler house

JERUSALEM — The Israeli government has stepped in to save a house built illegally by Jewish settlers in a volatile Palestinian neighborhood in east Jerusalem, complicating already troubled U.S. efforts to renew Mideast peacemaking.

The move is meant to skirt a court order to evacuate and seal the house, thus easing settler anger over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to slow Jewish settlement construction.

But it is likely to fuel new frictions with the Palestinians, who hope to establish a future capital in that sector of the holy city.

Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said Israel’s latest attempts to entrench its presence in east Jerusalem only further discourages peace efforts.

Israeli officials “know for sure that there will never be peace without east Jerusalem being the capital of Palestine,” Erekat said Tuesday. “By undermining this, they’re undermining the peace process.”

Sovereignty over east Jerusalem is one of the most highly charged issues dividing Israelis and Palestinians, and competing claims to it have erupted into deadly violence in the past.

The latest controversy surrounds a seven-story building built by the ultranationalist settler group Ateret Cohanim in 2004 in the Silwan neighborhood. After years of legal battles, a court last July determined the structure was illegally built and ordered residents to leave.

Jerusalem’s Mayor Nir Barkat, who opposed the ruling, caved in last month and agreed to evacuate the building where eight families have been living under 24-hour government guard.

But the evacuation orders were abruptly canceled Monday after Netanyahu’s interior minister reportedly decided to give the house — named for Jonathan Pollard, the American Jew convicted of spying in the U.S. for Israel — retroactive approval.

Interior Minister Eli Yishai’s office did not return calls seeking comment, and Netanyahu’s office said he was not involved in the matter.

The Palestinians refuse to resume peace talks until Israel halts all settlement construction in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, arguing the widening Israeli presence chips away at land they claim for a future state.

Israel captured both areas in the 1967 Mideast war. Netanyahu has offered a partial settlement freeze in the West Bank, but says east Jerusalem is off limits and will remain Israel’s forever.

Washington’s Mideast envoy, George Mitchell, has been trying to break the deadlock for more than a year and recently proposed shuttle diplomacy through American mediators.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas signaled Tuesday he was open to Mitchell’s proposal and that Palestinians “must keep the doors open and give him the opportunity” to restart the process.