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Biden scolds Israel over settlement plan
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and his wife Jill Biden arrive at Ben Gurion International airport near Tel Aviv, March 8, 2010.
Credit: Reuters/Ronen Zvulun
RAMALLAH, West Bank |
RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Vice President Joe Biden publicly scolded Israel on Wednesday over a Jewish settlement plan, saying it was undermining peace efforts after Palestinians agreed to U.S.-mediated talks.
"It is incumbent on both parties to build an atmosphere of support for negotiations and not to complicate them," Biden said in a media statement alongside Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
"Yesterday the decision by the Israeli government to advance planning for new housing units in East Jerusalem undermines that very trust, the trust that we need right now in order to begin ... profitable negotiations," Biden said.
In Jerusalem, an Israeli cabinet minister apologized for what he termed "real embarrassment" caused to Biden by the news
on Tuesday that Israel would erect 1,600 settler homes in an area of the occupied West Bank it annexed to the holy city.
Israel's announcement of the project changed the tone of a visit in which Biden had focused on reassuring Israelis that President Barack Obama was committed to their security in the face of a possible Iranian nuclear threat.
Aides to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had been blindsided by the announcement of the plan by the Interior Ministry, run by Shas, an ultraorthodox, nationalist party that is a key member of the governing coalition.
Abbas, who agreed to indirect talks with Israel after he had made a settlement freeze a condition for resuming peace negotiations, urged Israeli leaders to cancel the decision.
But the Western-backed Palestinian leader gave no indication the so-called "proximity talks" would not proceed. No date, venue or agenda has been set.
"The American administration must put pressure on Israel so the indirect talks are not obstructed," said Nabil Abu Rdainah, an Abbas aide.
European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton called on Israel to reverse the settlement decision and avoid taking unilateral actions.
British Foreign Secretary David Miliband also rebuked Israel over the decision and said it was critical to promote a "vital Palestinian state" that can exist alongside Israel.
"I condemn this as quite the wrong decision at the wrong time," Miliband said after a lecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
ACCOUNTABLE
Biden made no reference to any postponement. He spoke of "indirect talks being launched" and said they should lead to direct negotiations.
He said the United States would hold both sides accountable for any statements or actions "that inflame tensions or prejudice the outcome of talks, as this decision did" -- a reference to the settlement plan."
The Arab League in Cairo, which last week endorsed a four-month framework for the talks, called an urgent meeting of a committee overseeing the process, for later Wednesday.
Egypt's official state news agency MENA reported that Arab League chief Amr Moussa "expressed his belief in the possibility that the Arabs would backtrack on their decision."
In November, Netanyahu ordered a 10-month halt to new housing starts in West Bank settlements but exempted those Israel considers part of Jerusalem and projects for Jewish homes in the eastern sector of the city captured in 1967.
Palestinians say settlements will deny them a viable state, which they hope to establish in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
"Messages have been sent to Biden and the Americans that there was no intention to undermine him," a senior Israeli official said. "We were genuinely surprised, just as surprised as the Americans."
Netanyahu took no steps to reverse the decision to build in Ramat Shlomo, a religious Jewish settlement. Israel considers all of Jerusalem its capital. Palestinians want East Jerusalem as the capital of a future state.
Shas's promotion of the plan was an indication to the Obama administration of the problems Netanyahu would face within his government should he make bold moves, as Washington has demanded, toward a land-for-peace deal with Palestinians.
(Additional reporting by Alastair Macdonald, Mohammed Assadi, Ali Sawafta and Tom Perry in Ramallah, and Ros Krasny in Boston; Writing by Jeffrey Heller and Alastair Macdonald; Editing by Noah Barkin)
The US needs to let Israel free to do what it wants. We cannot be spending trillions policing the world
Kinda sad – our taxes our paying for Israel to perform slow genocide on Palestinians as they slowly encroach more and more on their land – muscling them out of employment, water, land and dignity.
Wish we could vote on this.
Israel repeatedly states it wants to negotiate peace all the while its conduct is provocative like continuing to build housing projects in the West Bank. Clearly, Israel is not truly interested in a two state solution. It is only interested in so-called negotiations which go nowhere while they continue an end game of undermining any possibility of a lasting peace. Don’t get me wrong, I am not in support of Palestinian extremist tactics of bombings, rocket attacks, etc. That is not a responsible reaction either.
How can Abbas negotiate when the conduct of Israel implies that it does not take any negotiation seriously.
The politics of the Middle East is complicated and very different than our own (also complicated), but Israel is determined not to have peace or a recognition of its place unless the terms are theirs. They continue to be the aggressor on these settlements-only designed to torment the Palestinians. It goes both ways, but I am sick of our bending over backward to appease Israel.
As an Israeli, I have to say:
* The Israeli government is clearly now, and has clearly been for a very long time, totally incompetent.
* Israel needs to endure a little pain, or it will never grow up.
* The right thing for Biden to do would have been to turn around, fly home, and tell the Israelis that if they want US help on this or other matters, they first should look in the mirror and grow up a little.
I mean really … how dumb can the Israeli government get? Are they set on plumbing new depths?
Butch_from_PA, what is even sadder is that we, the American taxpayer do not even know the true dollar amount of support to Israel. It is in the billions. Can we afford this?
Agree with the majority of comments. We in the U.S. should recognize Israeli greed for what it is and stop huge foreign aid to Israel…or at the very least contribute equally to both sides.
The eternal question is: Just WHAT could Israel do to get actual punishment from the U.S.? Two facts are clear: Israel will NEVER have peace with anyone; and the nation formerly known as America is the United States of Israel. The Founding Fathers are rolling in their graves.
He condemns the settlements? Well then prove you are displeased, and stop writing a blank check to Israel for it to humiliate the Palestinians whenever it pleases.
The more telling comment is when Biden states that there is “no space” between Israel and the US. If Israel bombs Iran, we will also be rightfully blamed.
