WASHINGTON: The Obama administration is raising with Israeli government officials their decision to announce new Jewish settlements during Vice President Joe Biden”s visit to Jerusalem, a US official said.
“We are in discussions with the Israelis about this announcement and I”m sure that it will come up when the senator is in the region next week,” State Department spokesman Philip Crowley told reporters.
Senator George Mitchell, the US Middle East envoy, is to return to the region after helping to launch on Monday indirect Israeli-Palestinian talks, the first of any kind since Israel launched its war in Gaza in December 2008.
While Biden held talks with Israeli leaders on Tuesday, Israel gave the green light for the construction of 1,600 settler homes in annexed Arab east Jerusalem, prompting condemnation from the vice president.
Crowley admitted it was unusual for the United States to condemn such a close ally as Israel.
“We are talking to the government and trying to understand what happened and why,” Crowley said.
“We want to see the parties press forward… with negotiations. And… they both have a responsibility to avoid actions that we think undermine the process,” he added.
Crowley said the Israeli announcement was “highly unusual” given US opposition to settlements, but he declined to be drawn on whether he believed that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government knew the announcement by the interior ministry would be made during Biden”s visit.
