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Subscribe to RSSIsrael approves plans to build more than 3,000 homes in East Jerusalem. ITN's John Ray reports from Tel Aviv.
The White House and the State Department said on Friday a new Israeli settlement expansion plan was "counterproductive" and could make it harder to bring Israel and the Palestinians back to the negotiating table.
"We reiterate our longstanding opposition to settlements and East Jerusalem construction and announcements," White House spokesman Tommy Vietor said.
State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland reiterated this position, adding: "We're going to be evenhanded in our concern about any actions that are provocative, any actions that make it harder to get these two parties back to the table."
Israel plans to build thousands of new homes for its settlers in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, an Israeli official said earlier, defying a U.N. vote that implicitly recognized Palestinian statehood there.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's conservative government had authorized the construction of 3,000 housing units and ordered "preliminary zoning and planning work for thousands" more.
Marko Djurica / Reuters
A masked Palestinian protester uses a sling to throw a stone at Israeli security officers (unseen) during clashes at a protest against Jewish settlements, in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh, near Ramallah on Nov. 30.
"We believe these actions are counterproductive and make it harder to resume direct negotiations or achieve of a two state solution," Vietor said. "Direct negotiations remain our goal and we encourage all parties to take steps to make that easier to achieve."
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is meeting senior Israeli and Palestinian officials Friday to try to plot a path forward.
Clinton is seeing Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman, and Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad. She is also talking to Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh, a key mediator.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest says only "face-to-face" Israeli-Palestinian negotiations can lead to progress on a two-state solution.
Israeli media, including Haaretz newspaper, said the government sought to emphasize its rejection of Thursday's upgrade by the U.N. General Assembly of the Palestinians to "non-member observer state" from "entity."
Palestinians had a major symbolic victory when the United Nations General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to recognize them, but the U.S. argued the new status could set back Palestinians in the path to peace. NBC's Andrea Mitchell reports.
Israel and the United States had opposed the resolution, which shored up the Palestinians' claim on all of the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza Strip, saying territorial sovereignty should be addressed in direct peace talks with the Jewish state.
Those negotiations have been stalled for two years, however, given Palestinian anger at continued Israeli settlement expansion. The Israelis insist they would keep West Bank settlement blocs under any final accord as well as all of Jerusalem as their capital.
That status for the holy city has never been accepted abroad, where most powers consider the settlements illegal for taking in land captured in the 1967 Middle East war.
The 193-nation General Assembly overwhelmingly approved the de facto recognition of the sovereign state of Palestine after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas urged the world body to issue what he said was its long overdue "birth certificate."
The State Department called Thursday's vote "unfortunate" and "counterproductive," and said it doesn't take the Palestinians any closer to a state.
Spokesman Earnest rejected talk of cutting U.S. aid to the Palestinians.
Jim Hollander / EPA file
A bulldozer sits at a construction site in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Pizgat Ze'ev, which many consider a sprawling Jewish settlement, on Nov. 8. Israel plans to build 3,000 new housing units for Jewish settlers in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
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The Jews own the U.S. and most of the rest of the world. How did we let this happen? God told the Jews that they would never have their own land because of their disregard for His commandments in the time of the prophet Moses. So why haven't they ever gotten the message. Their occupation of Palestine is illegal, and their atrocities against its people are heinous. They constantly speak about the holocaust but do they consider what they are doing to innocent men, women and children in Palestine any better? When is the world finally going to wake up to their game?
Michael you need help as well. Try again.
Wow. You got that wrong. Where did you get those lies. All of the land belongs to Israel. All of Jerusalem belongs to Israel. It is the so-called Palestinians that must leave. As for Mr Soetoro and his regime, they have no business telling Israel what to do. Pro-Palestine means Anti-Israel which means God's curse is on the way.
Same old news
As I said many times before: only netanyahu´s removal will allow the palestinian-israeli issue
to be resolved. So, what are we waiting for? Remove him...and don´t look back!!!
The world community sure finds it easy to find fault with Israel. Many other countries who have conquered foes in war and kept part or all of their territory do not receive any criticism from the world. I think the world community better just accept the fact that Israel is not giving back the settlement territory, the West Bank, or Jerusalem. Then start negotiating a peace settlement from there. Any idiot knows if Israel gave any territory back that nothing will change concerning the Palestinians. These sleaze balls will continue to attack Israel unprovoked until they receive a big slap down from Israel. This truly is a US or Them death match issued by the Palestinians. Israel should oblige them by annihilating them.
for usa/no party.not me .i blame the religious freaks..thks
Ah,Reasonable thinking. I like that.
Plus the fact the the Palestinians are not from the land they claim. They are arab. You know those people that took over the middle east and killed its culture.
This stupid, Muslim a**-kissing administration will be gone in four years, but Israel will live on. Go, Izzies! I hope all of you Jew haters live the remainder of your stupid lives without Jewish science, engineering and medicine. And, I hope you understand the depth and meaning of that.
Oh, sorry, I meant to say "fluffy bunnies and cute little puppies". I wouldn't want to offend anyone.
LAY HARD is more like it.
Man, those Jews must be doing some sure enough super hot around the clock non stop friggin to be needing to build that many houses all the time.
Go israel- bomb the living "dung" out of Iran. Tell the little musie in Wshington to chew on it.
what more could you expect from the muslim obama.
"Direct negotiations remain our goal and we encourage all parties to take steps to make that easier to achieve."
WTF!! So, the plan all this time is to keep everything in negotiations... What the fu(k will that accomplish, you need to compromise to end the negotiations so there can be peace!
Patric- the removal of Iran will provide some resolution. The muslims are like Obama. There is no compromise.
The photo: A masked Palestinian protester uses a sling to throw a stone at Israeli security officers (unseen) during clashes at a protest against Jewish settlements, in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh, near Ramallah on Nov. 30.
I'd love to see his head exploding from a 50 cal round ...
Israel needs to tell America to mind their own business. The only reason America is saying anything at all to Israel is because barack hussein supports Gaza and Hamaz and all the rest of his muslim brothers in the area. barack is the problem not Israel. barack's foreign policy is to support muslims and terrorists especially in the middle east region. I support Israel not barack hussein o and his policies. barack hussein can take his policies, agendas, and ideas and go straight to hell. He is a disgrace.
The Vatican will poke its nose into the coming fighting. Yes, you heard correctly. The truce is over.
I never trusted Netanyahu for one minute. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at least has more credibility and self control than the incredibly stupid ahole government in Israel.
Israel you better vote out Netanyahu or the world will turn their back on you. I think the US opinion of Israel is worsening except for the small number of neocons. I think President Obama is going to realize what a mistake he made backing the militant, ultra right wing Israel. I think we all are going to see how dangerous Netanyahu is, and what the Arabs have trying to tell us for so long.
At least GH Bush, got the leadership changed in Israel.
And what were the Arabs telling us when they flew planes into the WTC!! You are a moron
for usa/no party.your own goverment was screwing you.thks 2012
So somebody attacks the US and we start 2 wars, yet Isreal cannot defend its own borders.
"In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized man. Support Israel. Defeat Jihad."
go duke it out on the moon.
Stop funding the SPOILED CHILD!!!! U.S. Taxpayer's $$$ SHOULD NOT GO TO ISRAEL!!!! Netanyahu is LAUGHING AT OBAMA!!! Let Jewish Casino mogul Sheldon Adelson fund his "Promise Land"!
save your cloth..we re all going to be wraPPING it around our collective empty heads soon enough..and bowing to the east..or west.
"never trusted Netanyahu for one minute. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at least has more credibility"
you got it wrong..Netanyahu has more credibility than obama
how so? because obama is invading neighbors using foriegn aid and picking a fight just after the WORLD scrambled to mediate a truce? oh wait, thats netanyahu. ahmadinejad doesnt have credibility either but come on, the man took a picture of the road runner bomb to the un to try and persuade the world into a war with iran, and when that didnt work he started fighting the palestinians again. oh and we got to look really stupid voting against the un vote to recognize palestine, to show our support of israel, and this is how they repay us.
JUST ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF ISRAEL
thumbing their nose at the world and breaking international law.
(For those want to respond negatively...look it up first, then comment)
Every bomb they drop or home they build is done with
OUR BILLIONS OF TAX DOLLARS
Well, what can I say? Zionism....just a continuation of the travesty started back in the 1800s to reclaim the Holy Lands for the Jews. It is all bad and Israel should never have been established there. If they loved that land so much, they should have stayed there 2000 years ago.
remember when during the election everyone was complaining about obama "snubbing"netanyahu and israel? maybe obama wanted to send a message to netanyahu that constant stirring of the pot and the need to bomb and invade its neighbors (bomb iran, expand settlements in gaza) is no longer unconditionally supported. its become clear that the american people are tired of war and want to focus on the homefront. why should we blindly support israel's hawkish conservatives? this shows they have no desire to coexist peacefully, and is possibly a reason why a message needed to be sent. im not saying hamas' missile launches are acceptable, but at some point they are going to fight back to actions such as these. however they lack a military so unfortunately this is the method they have to use. if israel wants peace they need to show it, we all know the argument that israel is fighting for their right to exist, is it not acceptable for the palestinians to fight for that same right?
Yes Obama snubbed Netanyahu when it would have been convenient to meet, basically telling Netanyahu that the campaign was more important than affairs of state and that he was on his own.
The article doesn't say how many Palestinians, if any, would be displaced.
This isn't just a Israel - Palestine problem, it's regional, and the region fully supports Palestine, not because they like Palestine, but because they hate Israel and they want nothing to do with refuges from Palestine if Israel is successful.
and netanyahu deserved it. if you want to keep picking a fight its time to let you take off the training wheels and fight your own fight.
he met with other nation's leaders so i dont think it was a campaign issue, its a message that we are uninterested in cleaning up their mess. im not saying israel should lay down and face annihilation. what am saying is that they need to realize the region they live in and work towards peace and not keep enacting policies that will no doubt piss everyone off and then cry that everyone is picking on them and come running to their big brother.
How many of you are in favor of bringing back the draft?
How many of you are willing to send your sons/daughters or grandchildren to fight and give their life and limbs for Israel?
scott-1027093 I agree with your comments where others here don't. God promised Israel to the Jewish people . The land is called Israel not Palestine. God has a convenant with Isaac his descenants not descendants of Ishmael. The land was not given to the other sons of Abraham but only to Isaac. I say God Bless Israel, it belongs to the jewish people. I don't want your reply all of you who call the Bible a fairytale. I have my opinion and belief in God, and you have yours. There is no need to be hateful and insult each other because we disagree on this subject.
Land belongs to those who pay for it and continually maintain it. If you decide to move away and let others have it, you have no right to return centuries later and demand the land back through force.
I agree that you have the right to your beliefs and ideas. Just keep them inside your head and stop supporting religious fanatics who use those beliefs to screw their neighbors out of their fields and houses. When you use things like 'God promised Israel to the Jewish people ' to justify war crimes and theft of biblical proportions, we get to call you out on it. Sorry to mess up your little plan to hit and run...i guess we might say that you just got caught with your panties down...LOL
maybe were spiteful because your total lack of respect for other religions. because your religion promised the land to the jews it means that the people that were there for 100s of years before the recreation of israel no longer have a right to their homes or way of life?
as far as religion argument, if there is a god and he is all knowing, dont you think its possible that he would realize that a one size fits all religion is unrealistic for mankind?islam believes that allah is the same god as the jewish and christian god, their religion was born around 632ad as an answer to the corruption of the other two religions. so what your saying is your update is right and better and theirs is totally false? i had no idea god condoned violence over peace and understanding.
letsgoblues
"maybe were spiteful because your total lack of respect for other religions"
Israel has more respect for Christians than many Americans do and Israel has the support of uncountable Christians.
"their religion was born around 632ad as an answer to the corruption of the other two religions" And in doing so became the most corrupt religion of them all.
according to your judgement.. what do you call the cover up of the systematic rape of children all over the world? what do you call charging money to visit relics in order to earn a pass into heaven during the middle ages? how about the sponsering of the spanish to "convert" native americans by slaughtering them to save their souls? i dont want to hear your arguments that your religion is without fault and the moral authority of the world.