Israel: E1 Zone Expansion Debate
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Scott Arthur
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Israel: E1 Zone Expansion
Scott Arthur Excerpts(1 month ago)
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Dr Scott Arthur (Edinburgh South West) (Lab)
I hope I am not alone in knowing that the vast majority of ordinary Palestinians and Israelis want peace. As an optimist, I hope that they vote for it when they get the chance later this year in both Palestine and Israel.
It is clear that the consensus here is that this expansion would be a bad idea—it would be illegal and bad for any hope of peace in the future—but what about the existing settlements? How do we consider them? I know that the Minister has talked about trade, but what about their actual existence as a barrier to peace? Are the Government raising that with Netanyahu’s Government?
Mr Falconer
We consider those settlements to be illegal, and we are clear with the Israeli Government that that is our position.