U.S. Condemns Israel's Decision to Approve Construction

Arutz Sheva ^ | 30/11/12 | Elad Benari

[Eleutheria5]

The White House on Friday condemned Israel's decision to build 3,000 new homes in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria as "counterproductive" and said it would make resuming peace talks harder.

Abbas' move at the United Nations has" buried the Oslo Accords" according to various political figures and that is why talks are not on the agenda. The move to be "recognized" as a state, although symbolic, was made without agreed upon borders or a declaration of peace and is essentially a hostile step. Abbas ignored the US government's request that he refrain from doing so and the automatic pro-PA vote in the General Assembly, in addition to European support, made the result a foregone conclusion.

"We reiterate our longstanding opposition to settlements and east Jerusalem construction and announcements. We believe these actions are counterproductive and make it harder to resume direct negotiations or (to) achieve a two state solution," said National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor, according to AFP.

"Direct negotiations remain our goal and we encourage all parties to take steps to make that easier to achieve," Vietor added.

Earlier on Friday, the forum of nine senior ministers approved the construction of 3,000 housing units in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria.

In addition, the nine ministers decided to promote the building of thousands of housing units in Jerusalem and in the so-called ‘settlement blocs’, including the area known as E1 and which connects Jerusalem and Maale Adumim.

The decision came less than 24 hours after the United Nations voted to recognize the Palestinian Authority as a non-member observer state.

A senior diplomatic source said that "continued construction is done according to Israel's strategic interests." The source added that additional measures to respond to the PA’s unilateral move are currently being considered.

PA officials reacted with anger to the Israeli decision.

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[familyop]

"G-d is our only true ally."

And only L-rd, G-d and Creator. Agreed, and well said.

[DoughtyOne]

LOL

Israel doesn’t operate that way. It tries to respect life. I agree.

I do happen to believe that Israel lets the Arabs on the West Bank and Gaza get away with more than it should though. I believe push back should be quick and without mercy for those who committed violent acts against it.