Israel’s prime minister expressed regret on Sunday for a crisis with the US over plans to expand a Jewish neighborhood in east Jerusalem, even as US officials played down the apology and called for bold Israeli action to get peace efforts back on track.
With tensions rising, Israel deployed hundreds of police around east Jerusalem’s Old City and heavily restricted Palestinian access to the area — the scene of several recent clashes.
Israel’s already strained relationship with the US hit a new low last week when the Jewish state announced plans during a visit by US Vice President Joe Biden to build 1,600 homes for Israelis in east Jerusalem, which Palestinians claim as their capital.
The announcement embarrassed Biden, who quickly condemned the plan, and cast a shadow over upcoming US-mediated peace talks.
In his first public comments on the matter, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his Cabinet on Sunday that he was sorry about the diplomatic fiasco and had ordered an investigation into the incident. Netanyahu has claimed he had no prior knowledge.
“There was a regrettable incident that was done in all innocence and was hurtful, and which certainly should not have occurred,” Netanyahu said.
At the same time, he urged his Cabinet “not to get carried away and to calm down” and gave no sign he would scrap the settlement plan.
“We will act according to the vital interests of the state of Israel,” he said.
The fate of east Jerusalem is the most explosive issue in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israel captured the area in the 1967 Mideast War and considers the entire city its capital. Netanyahu has said he will never agree to share control of the holy city.
The Palestinians claim the eastern sector — home to sensitive Jewish, Christian and Muslim holy sites — as the capital of a future state that would include the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Israel’s annexation of east Jerusalem has not been internationally recognized and the international community, including the US, considers the ring of Jewish neighborhoods Israel has built to be illegal settlements.
Within hours of Israel’s announcement last week, Biden condemned the plan and warned it could undermine US-led indirect peace talks that are to start in the coming weeks. A day after Biden left, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called Netanyahu and lectured him for 43 minutes to vent Washington’s frustration.
Even after Netanyahu’s apology on Sunday, the US condemnation showed no sign of easing.
Speaking on NBC television, US President Barack Obama’s chief political adviser, David Axelrod, called Israel’s action an “affront” and an “insult.”
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said the apology was merely a “good start.”
“I think what would be an even better start is coming to the table with constructive ideas for constructive and trustful dialogue about moving the peace process forward,” Gibbs told Fox TV.
Gibbs also confirmed that Clinton “outlined” steps the US wants Israel to take. He declined to elaborate, but the steps could include a renewed US demand for Israel to halt all settlement construction.
Under US pressure, Netanyahu imposed a 10-month slowdown last November on settlement construction in the West Bank. But that order does not include east Jerusalem.
The showdown with the Americans has put Netanyahu in a difficult situation.
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