Israeli settlers call for Oslo accords to be scrapped in response to sanctions

The leadership of Israel’s settler movement on Tuesday called for the Oslo Accords to be scrapped, settlements to be expanded into Areas A and B of the occupied West Bank, and the Palestinian Authority to be dismantled, in response to recent European sanctions targeting settlements.

Israeli political and settler circles are also working to push the United States to take countermeasures, according to Israel’s public broadcaster Kan 11.

The broadcaster reported that Yesha Council chairman Yisrael Gantz met US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee to discuss possible US steps in response to sanctions imposed by Britain, France and other countries on settlements.

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It said the meeting was the second between Gantz and Huckabee in a short period, following another meeting at the ambassador’s home on Monday that lasted several hours.

Huckabee said in an interview with the BBC on Tuesday that if Britain continued to “push sanctions against settlements”, there would “no doubt” be an American response.

The moves come as European sanctions have recently intensified over an increase in Israeli settler attacks in the occupied West Bank and the expansion of settlements, particularly plans to build in the E1 area near the settlement of Maale Adumim.

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