OTTAWA — Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon took a harder line Tuesday against Israel’s controversial decision to build settlements in east Jerusalem, saying he condemns the plan.
That’s the strongest language to date by a Conservative cabinet minister against Israel.
The Harper government has been accused in the past of tilting its Middle East policy too much toward Israel, drawing complaints from Canadian Arab and Muslim groups.
But Cannon now appears to be following the tougher U.S. line after Israel’s surprise announcement last week that it plans to build 1,600 new apartments in a Jewish neighbourhood in disputed east Jerusalem.
Last week, Cannon released a cautious statement that expressed both “regret” and “concern” for the new settlement plan, calling it an obstacle to the pursuit of peace in the Middle East.
His language was tougher Tuesday during testimony before the House of Commons foreign affairs committee.
“We firmly believe in two sovereign states living side by side in harmony. That is the position that the government of Canada has put forward,” Cannon said.
“On expansion into east Jerusalem, we feel that this is contrary to international law and therefore condemn it. We’re very concerned with what is taking place.”
Israel’s settlement plan upstaged a visit by U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden to the country last week and soured relations between Washington and Jerusalem.
The Obama administration immediately criticized the settlements in the toughest language possible — in contrast to the softer language in Cannon’s statement last week.
Cannon said that the Palestinian-Israeli conflict would be a topic of discussion when he hosts G8 foreign ministers for a day of meetings in two weeks near Ottawa.
He also told the committee that Prime Minister Stephen Harper telephoned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss the issue.
Liberal foreign affairs critic Bob Rae later pressed Harper for details of his conversation with Netanyahu.
“I have discussed this with Prime Minister Netanyahu and of course I repeated the government of Canada’s position, as the minister of foreign affairs did last week in collaboration with a number of our allies. Our position on the particular issue at hand is well known,” Harper told the Commons.
“At the same time I indicated to Prime Minister Netanyahu, and would indicate to all involved in this particular conflict, that I hope they will all do their best efforts to see their way to resuming peace talks in some form as soon as possible.”
Rae retorted: “It is interesting that the prime minister did not repeat the words of his minister two hours ago at the committee of the House of Commons.”
Cannon’s office later tried to back away from the tougher language he used before the all-party committee of MPs.
“I want to make it clear that what the minister said today in committee is not an escalation in our diplomatic language, our position has not changed, we have expressed Canada’s concern regarding the planned expansion of Israeli settlements and are encouraging Israelis and Palestinians to move ahead with indirect peace talks,” spokeswoman Catherine Loubier said in an e-mailed statement.
A United Nations-backed diplomatic group, known as The Quartet, has also registered its condemnation of the new Israeli settlement plan. In a statement issued last week, the group — comprised of the UN, the European Union, the U.S. and Russia — said it “condemns Israel’s decision to advance planning for new housing units in East Jerusalem.”
Rae questioned why Harper’s office did not publicize his Monday telephone call to Netanyahu. He said that Canada has a leadership role to play in the helping to revive the stalled Middle East peace process.
“I think the impasse between the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority has frankly been exacerbated by events of recent days and I think it is very important that the Canadian government do whatever it can to try to bring the parties together,” said Rae.
The aftershocks of Israel’s decision to announce the new settlement during the Biden visit continued to be felt Tuesday. The U.S. State Department announced the postponement of a visit to the region by the Obama administration’s special Middle East peace envoy, George Mitchell.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who has called the timing of the last week’s Israeli announcement an insult, brushed off suggestions of a crisis in U.S.-Israeli relations but called on Netanyahu’s government to prove its commitment to the peace process.
Clinton said the U.S. remains committed to reviving the stalled peace process.