Israel announced plans on Monday to build nearly 700 new Jewish homes in areas of the occupied West Bank it considers part of Jerusalem, prompting strong US criticism implying they could undermine peace talks. The United States said it opposed Jewish settlement construction in occupied land and urged Israel and the Palestinians to resume negotiations now stalled for a year.
Israel has excluded Jerusalem from a limited moratorium on settlement construction. A spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the Israeli plan, saying new building on territory occupied by Israel since the 1967 Middle East war was illegal.
Under the new Israeli blueprint, Israel's Housing Ministry invited contractors to bid for the construction of 198 housing units in Pisgat Zeev, 377 homes in Neve Yaakov and 117 dwellings in Har Homa, settlements near Jerusalem. "The United States opposes new Israeli construction in East Jerusalem," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs responded in a statement.
"Neither party should engage in efforts or take actions that could unilaterally preempt, or appear to preempt, negotiations. Rather, both parties should return to negotiations without preconditions as soon as possible," Gibbs said. The White House also said the United States recognises "Jerusalem is a deeply important issue for Israelis and Palestinians, and for Jews, Muslims, and Christians." Israel has declared all of Jerusalem its indivisible and eternal capital, a claim not recognised internationally.
It sees Pisgat Zeev, Neve Yaakov and Har Homa as neighbourhoods of Jerusalem. Palestinians see the city as capital of a future state. Under US pressure, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced in November a 10-month freeze of housing starts in West Bank settlements but said it would not include the municipal borders Israel has defined for Jerusalem. Abbas has demanded Israel halt all settlement activity, saying he would not resume peace talks until it did so.
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