US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has rebuked Israel for plans to build new settler homes, saying it sent a “deeply negative signal” about Israel’s ties to its top ally.
In unusually harsh words, Clinton told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Washington strongly objected to the announcement, made during a landmark trip to Israel by US Vice President Joe Biden.
“The United States considered the announcement a deeply negative signal about Israel’s approach to the bilateral relationship,” the top US diplomat told Netanyahu on Friday.
Her comments were backed by the Middle East Quartet — made up of the EU, the US, Russia and the UN — which said in a statement that it “condemns Israel’s decision to advance planning for new housing units in East Jerusalem.”
The Quartet said unilateral actions taken by either party to the Middle East peace process “will not be recognized by the international community.”
Clinton heaped further scorn on the Jewish state’s announcement after speaking with Netanyahu.
“The announcement of the settlements, the very day that the vice president was there, was insulting,” she told CNN in an interview. “I mean, it was really just an unfortunate and difficult moment for everyone.”
It was an unusually strong rebuke from the US for its main regional ally and almost unprecedented after decades of strong ties.
In June 1990, former US secretary of state James Baker, frustrated by the intransigence of Israel’s then-prime minister Yitzhak Shamir, told the Israelis: “When you’re serious about peace, call us.”
While today’s frustration also stems from the stalemated Middle East peace process, however, the political landscape is completely different, analysts said.
“Clinton and Biden are very close friends to Israel. Bush and Baker weren’t so close,” the analyst said, asking to remain anonymous, referring to former US president George H.W. Bush.
A member of Clinton’s close entourage said she was clearly “frustrated” by the announcement, which came just as the US was hoping to coax the two sides back to the negotiating table.
The Israeli Interior Ministry announced on Tuesday during Biden’s visit that 1,600 new settler homes would be built in predominantly Arab east Jerusalem, triggering swift fury among Arab and Palestinian leaders.
Netanyahu, who is due to address the powerful pro-Israeli American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s annual conference in Washington from March 21 to March 23, has apologized for the timing of the announcement.
Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas said earlier that he would not enter into any negotiations with Israel until the Jerusalem settlement project was frozen, while the Arab League withdrew its support for indirect talks.
US State Department spokesman Philip Crowley acknowledged that top US regional envoys George Mitchell and Jeffrey Feltman had spent the past 24 hours calling Arab leaders in a bid to keep the peace talks on track. Crowley made it clear that while Washington accepted Netanyahu’s apology, they held him accountable.
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