Turks wave a giant Palestinian flag yesterday during the arrival in Istanbul's port of the Mavi Marmara, one of the flotilla of aid ships raided in May. (see insert)THE US may throw its weight behind growing support for a unilateral Palestinian declaration of statehood if Israel does not resume Middle East peace talks, an Israeli minister has warned.In the first admission by a senior Israeli official that a rift with its key ally threatened a shift in US policy, Benjamin Ben-Eliezer, the Trade and Industry Minister, urged the resumption of talks with the Palestinians - even if it meant bowing to their demands for a renewed freeze on settlement construction in the West Bank.
"We must do everything possible to get to dialogue with the Palestinians, even if it costs us a settlement freeze for a few months," Mr Ben-Eliezer, a doyen of the Labour Party, the junior partner in the governing coalition, told a Cabinet meeting in Jerusalem.
"I wouldn't be surprised if within one year the whole world supports a Palestinian state, including the United States. Then we'll ask where we were and what we were doing."
In recent weeks, four Latin American states, led by Brazil, have officially recognised a Palestinian state inside the borders which were in place before the 1967 Six Day war, during which Israel took control of the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem. Some European nations have upgraded diplomatic relations with the Palestinians.
Later this year, Salam Fayyad, the Palestinian Prime Minister, is expected to complete his two-year plan of building a de facto state inside the West Bank, although Gaza remains under Hamas control.
The Palestinian leadership walked out of peace talks revived by the US three months ago in anger at Israel's refusal to extend a halt on building in the communities, which are viewed as illegal by the international community. The Palestinians have said that if there is no renewed negotiation effort they will go to the UN Security Council with a unilateral declaration of statehood.
Since the collapse of the peace talks and Israel's refusal to renew the settlement building moratorium, settlers have laid foundations for hundreds of new homes, according to the Israeli anti-settlement group Peace Now. The Palestinians have responded by preparing a UN draft resolution condemning the settlements, which in the West Bank are home to 300,000 Israelis, with 200,000 living in East Jerusalem.
Israeli diplomats have been rushing to ascertain the possible response of key countries to such a resolution amid fears that President Obama, having been thwarted in his peace efforts, might concentrate on other regions for the remaining two years of his term. So far Washington has said that it would not back the anti-settlement resolution, but other countries which have become increasingly frustrated by the deadlock in talks and the continued rate of settlement expansion - Britain among them - may offer some support.
Mr Ben-Eliezer's warning is also likely to increase tensions in the Israeli coalition as Binyamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister, strives to satisfy hardliners and pro-talks factions.
Amid the political tensions there were fresh clashes in and around Gaza on the eve of the second anniversary of the Israeli offensive to smash Hamas and stop militants firing rockets into southern Israel, an operation dubbed Cast Lead by the Israeli Army.
With both sides talking up the chances of another war in the south, Israeli tanks and helicopter gunships opened fire on Islamic Jihad members who were trying to plant bombs close to the Israeli-controlled border fence with Gaza, killing two people. More rockets were fired out of the Gaza Strip into Israel, despite some of the heaviest air strikes since the 2008 month-long war by Israeli forces last week.
The increased rocket fire has ramped up tensions, especially after Israel admitted that one of its tanks had been hit by an advanced, Russian-made anti-tank missile that had been smuggled into the besieged strip by Hamas.
"I hope there is no need for another operation like Cast Lead," the Israeli Deputy Prime Minister, Silvan Shalom, said. "But if this situation continues then obviously we will have to respond and respond with all our force."
Abu Obeidah, a Hamas military spokesman, said his forces were also ready for another bout of bloodletting. "If there is any Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip we will respond strongly," he said. "We are completely ready to answer any Israeli aggression."
In a possible reference to the Kornet anti-tank missiles deployed recently, he added: "Our weapons are few compared to those of the Israeli occupation, but we have something that will worry the occupation."
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