IDF thumbs its nose at Europe, US State Department seethes

Four and a half years ago, the Europeans commenced a new strategy to try to force Israel to commit suicide: They began building illegally for the 'Palestinians' in areas that are classified as Area C. At the time I wrote:

When Israel entered into the Oslo Accords in 1993-1995, the entire area of Judea and Samaria was split into three parts. 'Area A,' which mostly comprised the seven major cities in Judea and Samaria, and which contained most of the Arab population of the area, was to be under 'Palestinian' control. 'Area B' was to be under 'Palestinian' civilian control with Israel responsible for security. 'Area C,' which includes most of the Jewish cities and towns in Judea and Samaria, was to be under complete Israeli control.

Under the Oslo Accords, there were no restrictions on Israeli building in Area C. Those who negotiated the Oslo Accords envisioned an eventual 'Palestinian autonomy' within Areas A and B. There was no intent to establish a 'Palestinian state,' and certainly no promises from Israel that one would be established. In fact, the opposite was true. This is from Prime Minister Rabin's last speech to the Knesset - in which he was advocating for a Knesset endorsement of 'Oslo 2' - on October 5, 1995:

We view the permanent solution in the framework of State of Israel which will include most of the area of the Land of Israel as it was under the rule of the British Mandate, and alongside it a Palestinian entity which will be a home to most of the Palestinian residents living in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

We would like this to be an entity which is less than a state, and which will independently run the lives of the Palestinians under its authority. The borders of the State of Israel, during the permanent solution, will be beyond the lines which existed before the Six Day War. We will not return to the 4 June 1967 lines.

And these are the main changes, not all of them, which we envision and want in the permanent solution:

A. First and foremost, united Jerusalem, which will include both Ma'ale Adumim and Givat Ze'ev -- as the capital of Israel, under Israeli sovereignty, while preserving the rights of the members of the other faiths, Christianity and Islam, to freedom of access and freedom of worship in their holy places, according to the customs of their faiths.

B. The security border of the State of Israel will be located in the Jordan Valley, in the broadest meaning of that term.

C. Changes which will include the addition of Gush Etzion, Efrat, Beitar and other communities, most of which are in the area east of what was the "Green Line," prior to the Six Day War.

D. The establishment of blocs of settlements in Judea and Samaria, like the one in Gush Katif.

That's a far cry from what the 'international community' and the Obama administration are attempting to push on us today.

For a long time, Israel ignored the illegal European building. But the Europeans are obsessed with destroying the Jewish state (that's the strongest lesson I am learning from Tuvia Tenenboim's Catch the Jew), and the IDF has finally decided enough is enough.

The IDF on Tuesday morning razed five unauthorized Palestinian modular structures in the South Hebron region of the West Bank, three of which had been funded by the European Union. [Note the EU flag on the trailer - CiJ].

...

The five structures in question were part of the village of Um al-Kheir, which is located next to the settlement of Carmel. Three of them were newly built, very close to the security fence around Carmel.

The non-governmental group B’Tselem, which has opposed such actions, released a video of the demolition, which showed the shovel of a crane taking down the structure within minutes as the villagers watched.

Israel is apparently going to begin taking illegal 'Palestinian' building seriously.

On Sunday, Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked visited the South Hebron Hills to see the unauthorized Palestinian construction for herself.

“I saw on this trip a tremendous amount of illegal Palestinian building in Area C, with the help of foreign funding. We can’t allow for a double standard when it comes to building. It’s not clear to me how those who fight against Jewish building in Judea and Samaria are a leading force in illegal Palestinian building,” Shaked said.

But on Monday - before the demolitions happened - the Obama-Clinton-Kerry State Department - the foreign policy czars of the self-proclaimed 'most pro-Israel administration evah' - was seething.

“We are concerned by the accelerated rate of demolitions undertaken by Israeli authorities that continue in the West Bank as well as east Jerusalem,” State Department Press Office Director Elizabeth Trudeau told reporters in Washington at the daily briefing.

Funny - don't they demolish illegal buildings in the US?