Israel sought to patch up relations with the US yesterday after the announcement of plans for 1,600 news settler homes in east Jerusalem appeared to leave US-led peace efforts in tatters.
The announcement, made during a visit by US Vice President Joe Biden aimed at encouraging peace efforts, led the Palestinians to call off indirect talks they had reluctantly agreed to until the housing decision is revoked.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who supports expanding Jewish communities in annexed Arab east Jerusalem, said he had nevertheless spoken to Biden and “expressed his regret for the unfortunate timing.”
Netanyahu indicated he was not told ahead of time about the announcement by the Interior Ministry and said he had summoned Interior Minister Eli Yishai to express his “displeasure.”
Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas had earlier said he would not enter into any negotiations with Israel until the project was frozen, while the Arab League withdrew its support for indirect talks.
“I am waiting for [US Middle East envoy George] Mitchell to come back next week to give us the answer that the decision has been canceled,” Abbas told the Arab League, according to his chief negotiator Saeb Erakat.
The league issued a statement overnight following an emergency meeting of Arab ambassadors saying “the Israeli measures must be stopped before any discussion on a resumption of talks, direct or indirect.”
US State Department spokesman Philip Crowley confirmed on Wednesday that the US had raised the issue with Israeli officials.
“We are talking to the government and trying to understand what happened and why,” he told reporters in Washington.
The news had already sparked a strong condemnation from Biden, who met Abbas and other senior Palestinian leaders in the West Bank on Wednesday.
Biden had hoped his visit to the Middle East would boost the chances of indirect talks. Instead he found himself dealing with the fall-out from Israel’s decision, which he sharply condemned.
“As we move forward, the United States will hold both sides accountable for any statements or actions that inflame tensions or prejudice the outcome of talks as this decision did,” he said.
Netanyahu also came under fire from a minister of the Labour Party, a key ally in his coalition, who warned that the party may quit over the move.
“Members of the Labour Party have more and more difficulty in taking part in a coalition government that they joined with the purpose of relaunching the peace process with the Palestinians,” Agriculture Minister Shalom Simhon told army radio. “The anger of Biden is justified. A grave error has been committed and there is a price to pay.”
Israel, which seized east Jerusalem in the 1967 war and later annexed it in a move not recognized by the international community, considers the city its eternal and indivisible capital. The Palestinians see east Jerusalem as the capital of their promised state.
The decision to build the homes in the ultra-Orthodox Ramat Shlomo neighborhood ignited an international furor.
“The European Union reiterates that settlements are illegal under international law,” EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said in a statement on Wednesday, echoing UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon a day earlier.
Several states issued their own messages attacking the Israeli position, including Russia, which called the move “unacceptable,” and Britain, which said it would “give strength to those who argue that Israel is not serious about peace.”
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