Secretary-General of the PLO Executive Committee Saeb Erekat Tuesday decried Israeli President Reuven Rivlin’s visit to the Israeli settlements of Benyamin Regional Council, east of Ramallah.
Erekat said Rivilin’s visit to the illegal settlements of Benyamin demonstrates Israel’s support to apartheid and the violation of international covenants.
Speaking to WAFA over the phone, Erekat said the visit “demonstrates the Israeli approach and its insistence on the apartheid model and refusal to abide by international covenants.”
“The Israeli President ]Reuven Rivilin[ knows very well that settlements are not only illegal, but they amount to a war crime,” he added.
“His visit is yet another proof that Israel and its government are interested in proceeding with violating international covenants,” he added.
Erekat called on the world to hold Israel accountable for its violations, denounce Israeli terrorism, instill peace and security in the region and to stop treating Israel as if it were a state above the law.
The PLO official added that the visit, the first of its kind by a sitting Israeli president to West Bank settlements, came as a deadly strike to the French peace initiative.
Israeli media sources said Rivlin visited the Benyamin Regional Council as a guest of the council head Avi Roeh, who chairs the Regional Council of Settlements in the West Bank.
Rivlin reportedly recounted how “he told the US President Barack Obama that a two-state solution is irrelevant.”