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‘Israeli settlements counterproductive’
The Obama administration is getting little help from its ally Israel nor anybody else as it pleads for a fresh start in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks that could avert a veto showdown over the Palestinians’ unilateral bid at the United Nations for statehood recognition.
Already disappointed by Palestinian distaste for the new US-backed proposal to resume long-stalled negotiations, the administration was taken aback anew on Tuesday when Israel announced plans to construct new Jewish housing units in east Jerusalem.
The Israeli move made a hard job even harder for the United States, which is trying to protect Israel from a UN vote on Palestinian statehood that Israel bitterly opposes. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called the housing announcement “counterproductive” to new peace talks, the only path to Palestinian statehood the US and Israel say they will accept.
Palestinians claim east Jerusalem as the capital of their future state, and the expansion of Israeli-built housing there is among the most explosive issues keeping the two sides from making a deal.
The Palestinians, who have been demanding a freeze in settlement activity to return to the table, said the announcement of 1,100 new Jewish housing units prove Israel is not interested in talks.
The Israeli announcement met with swift criticism from the U.S. and the European Union, which along with the United Nations and Russia, form the international “Quartet” of Mideast mediators. The Quartet proposed a new formula for talks last week after the Palestinians submitted at the UN Security Council their bid for recognition and UN membership.
“This morning’s announcement by the Government of Israel,” Clinton said, “is counterproductive to our efforts to resume negotiations between the parties. We have long urged both sides to avoid any kind of action which could undermine trust, including and perhaps most particularly in Jerusalem, any action that could be viewed as provocative by either side.”
Expressing some frustration, Clinton told reporters at the State Department that “we have been here before, over many years.”
Already disappointed by Palestinian distaste for the new US-backed proposal to resume long-stalled negotiations, the administration was taken aback anew on Tuesday when Israel announced plans to construct new Jewish housing units in east Jerusalem.
The Israeli move made a hard job even harder for the United States, which is trying to protect Israel from a UN vote on Palestinian statehood that Israel bitterly opposes. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called the housing announcement “counterproductive” to new peace talks, the only path to Palestinian statehood the US and Israel say they will accept.
Palestinians claim east Jerusalem as the capital of their future state, and the expansion of Israeli-built housing there is among the most explosive issues keeping the two sides from making a deal.
The Palestinians, who have been demanding a freeze in settlement activity to return to the table, said the announcement of 1,100 new Jewish housing units prove Israel is not interested in talks.
The Israeli announcement met with swift criticism from the U.S. and the European Union, which along with the United Nations and Russia, form the international “Quartet” of Mideast mediators. The Quartet proposed a new formula for talks last week after the Palestinians submitted at the UN Security Council their bid for recognition and UN membership.
“This morning’s announcement by the Government of Israel,” Clinton said, “is counterproductive to our efforts to resume negotiations between the parties. We have long urged both sides to avoid any kind of action which could undermine trust, including and perhaps most particularly in Jerusalem, any action that could be viewed as provocative by either side.”
Expressing some frustration, Clinton told reporters at the State Department that “we have been here before, over many years.”
