Netanyahu defies call to halt construction Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday said building in east Jerusalem would continue -- a move likely to increase tensions with the United States as relations between the two countries plummet to their lowest in decades. Defying Washington, Mr. Netanyahu told members of his Likud party, "Construction will continue in Jerusalem as this has been the case over the past 42 years." The United States has condemned Israel's plan to build 1,600 new homes for Jews in Ramat Shlomo, a religious community within the Israelidesignated borders of Jerusalem, whose future status is at the heart of the Middle East conflict. With relations at "a crisis of historic proportions," according to Israeli ambassador Michael Oren, the United States has issued Israel with three key demands. - Cancel the construction: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has demanded a reversal of the decision to build in Ramat Shlomo. - A peace talks pledge: U.S. officials say Ms. Clinton demanded Mr. Netanyahu issue a formal pledge that peace talks would focus on core issues, such as the future of Jerusalem, the borders of a Palestinian state and the fate of Palestinian refugees. - A confidence-building gesture: In a telephone call to Mr. Netanyahu, Ms. Clinton suggested this could take the form of prisoner releases, an easing of the blockade of Gaza and the transfer of greater territory in the West Bank to Palestinian control. Yesterday, State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said Ms. Clinton had asked Mr. Netanyahu for a formal response to U.S. demands. "We wait for the response," Mr. Crowley said. But Mr. Netanyahu's comments appeared to be a signal to Washington that he believed he had political backing at home to withstand U.S. pressure. Appearing to reject Ms. Clinton's main demand, Mr. Netanyahu told parliament, "The building of those Jewish neighbourhoods in no way hurt the Arabs of east Jerusalem and did not come at their expense." Israel's ambassador to Washington said bilateral relations had hit a 35-year low. "Israel's relations with the U.S. are facing the most severe crisis since 1975 ... a crisis of historic proportions," the Yediot Aharonot newspaper quoted Mr. Oren as telling consuls in the United States. Not since the Gerald Ford administration had demanded Israel's partial withdrawal from Egypt's Sinai Peninsula in 1975 had ties been so strained, he was quoted as saying. Mr. Oren spoke after being summoned for what he described as an "extremely harsh" reprimand at the State Department. Israel's announcement of the building project during a visit last week by U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden embarrassed the White House. Ms. Clinton, in unusually blunt remarks, called it an insult. However, yesterday Mr. Netanyahu won backing from U.S. President Barack Obama's political opponents. "In an effort to ingratiate our country with the Arab world, this administration has shown a troubling eagerness to undercut our allies and friends," said House Republican Whip Eric Cantor, the only Jewish Republican in the House of Representatives.U.S.-Israel rift 'historic'
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Tuesday, 16 March 2010
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