Associated Press
JERUSALEM -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has given the green light for hundreds of new homes in a Palestinian-claimed area of Jerusalem, officials confirmed Wednesday, part of a gamble to mollify his restive coalition without sparking a major confrontation with the U.S.
Whether this balancing act can succeed could become clearer this week with the arrival of U.S. Mideast envoy George Mitchell. His response could signal whether the White House is ready to overlook its unhappiness with Israel as it prepares a new push for Mideast peace, perhaps as soon as this month, or whether it's digging in for a showdown over Jewish settlements.
The settlements are a core issue in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Nearly 500,000 Israelis now live in towns and neighborhoods built in the West Bank and east Jerusalem -- lands captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war and claimed by the Palestinians. The Palestinians say the ever-growing settler presence will soon make it impossible for them to establish an independent state in these areas.
In a departure from his predecessor, President Barack Obama has come down hard on Israel's settlement activity, demanding a complete freeze on all construction, including in east Jerusalem. Israel has rejected the calls, saying some accommodation must be made for "natural growth" in the settler population.
With that in mind, Netanyahu granted approval to build hundreds of new homes in recent days. On Wednesday, officials confirmed the government has chosen developers to build nearly 500 new apartments in Pisgat Zeev, a sprawling neighborhood built for Jews in east Jerusalem. That followed Monday's announcement that 455 new apartments would be built in existing West Bank settlements. Israel also wants to complete work on more than 2,000 other homes currently being built.
Netanyahu has tried to portray the new projects as a prelude to a limited settlement freeze. "We would argue that doing what we're doing now will actually make progress possible tomorrow," said spokesman Mark Regev.
Netanyahu's hard-line coalition partners have largely lined up behind him. But the international community is deeply skeptical.
In the latest public U.S. rebuke, State Department spokesman Ian C. Kelly said Wednesday, "Our position is clear: We believe that Israel has an obligation to cease all settlement activity," whether in east Jerusalem or the West Bank. Last week, when news of the new settlement construction broke, the U.S. said it "does not accept the legitimacy of continued settlement expansion."
