|
Globes: Israel’s Business News | Sept. 9, 2008
Note: Translated from the Hebrew-only edition.
In an Op Ed by a reporter for the British paper he explains how the decision will send a message from Britian that is opposite the government’s position. “Rewarding Leviev with our contract shows that Her Majesty’s Government is not serious in its intention to stop settlements.”
The British embassy’s decision to rent its new embassy building in Tel Aviv from Lev Leviev’s Africa-Israel sends a message from Britain about its position regarding settlements. So wrote the Guardian journalist Abe Hayeem in an op-ed published today (Tuesday) in the Guardian’s internet edition.
The journalist recalls that British prime minister Gordon Brown was quoted as saying to Abu Mazen during his last visit to Ramallah: “We want to see a freeze on settlements. Settlement expansion has made peace harder to achieve. It erodes trust, it heightens Palestinian suffering, it makes the compromises Israel needs to make for peace more difficult.” According to Hayeem, locating the embassy in Leviev’s building sends the opposite message.
In the article, the writer details Leviev’s activities on behalf of settlements, and recalls too that Leviev has recently become a resident of Britain. Danya Cebus, the contracting arm of Africa-Israel built homes in three settlements in the West Bank: Matityahu East, Har Homa and Ma’ale Adumim. In addition, Leviev is one of the biggest donors to the “Land Redemption Fund” of the Gush Emunim movement.
“Israel’s facts on the ground, created by companies like Leviev’s, make the two-state solution impossible,” writes the journalist. “Rewarding Leviev with the contract for our new embassy shows that Her Majesty’s government is not serious about stopping Israeli settlements.”
We note that a month and a half ago Globes revealed that the British Embassy is moving from HaYarkon Street to the Kirya Tower in Tel-Aviv after decades across from the city’s Hilton Beach. The Embassy is expected to rent three floors in the Kirya Tower from Africa-Israel Properties for a price of $27 per sq. meter.
(Trans. Adalah-NY)
|
Press Coverage 
