Settlements row overshadows Biden West Bank visit

Israel’s new plan to build 1,600 apartments for Jews in Palestinian-claimed east Jerusalem overshadowed US Vice President Joe Biden’s visit to the West Bank today.

Mr Biden is holding talks with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas and prime minister Salam Fayyad, in part to ease their doubts about the latest US peace efforts.

Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said Israel’s surprise announcement would be the main item on the Abbas-Biden agenda.

“I think the Israeli government is making it almost impossible for us, the Americans and the international community to take a one-centimetre step in the direction of reviving the peace process,” Mr Erekat said.

Israel’s interior ministry announced late on Tuesday that it had approved the new construction, an embarrassing setback for Mr Biden after a day of warm meetings with senior Israeli officials.

In an apparent snub, Mr Biden pointedly arrived 90 minutes late to his scheduled dinner with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and he sharply criticised the Israeli step, which came just after the Palestinians had agreed to a new round of indirect peace talks under US mediation.

“The substance and timing of the announcement, particularly with the launching of proximity talks, is precisely the kind of step that undermines the trust we need right now,” Mr Biden said.

“We must build an atmosphere to support negotiations, not complicate them,” he added, warning that “unilateral action taken by either party cannot prejudge the outcome of negotiations”.

Israel’s refusal to halt such building on disputed land has infuriated the Palestinians and undermined their faith in the US as an effective mediator.

President Barack Obama initially called for a complete settlement freeze, but did not take Israel to task when it only agreed to a 10-month moratorium on new housing in the West Bank. Mr Netanyahu refuses to stop building in east Jerusalem, saying he will never partition the city.

The Palestinians want east Jerusalem, captured by Israel in the 1967 war, as their future capital.

Earlier this week, the Palestinians reluctantly agreed to indirect negotiations with Israel, with US Middle East envoy George Mitchell to shuttle between Mr Abbas and Mr Netanyahu in coming months.

Mr Abbas has said he will not resume direct negotiations without a settlement freeze, leaving the US no choice but to arrange the indirect talks in hopes of ending the impasse.

Growing settlements take up more of the land the Palestinians want for their state and make partition increasingly difficult. Today, nearly 300,000 Israeli settlers live in the West Bank and 180,000 in east Jerusalem.

The ongoing construction is also eroding domestic support for Mr Abbas and his policy of trying to negotiate the terms of Palestinian statehood with Israel. Many Palestinians are critical of US-led peace efforts, saying that two decades of on-off negotiations have deepened Israeli control over their lives instead of bringing them closer to independence.

The latest Israeli building plan is undermining Mr Abbas, said Mr Erekat. “It’s a really disastrous situation. I hope that this will be an eye-opener for all in the international community.”

Israel claimed the timing of the announcement was coincidental.

At Tuesday’s dinner, Mr Netanyahu told Mr Biden he was caught off guard by the ministry’s announcement, a senior Israeli official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

While Mr Netanyahu considers east Jerusalem to be part of Israel, he acknowledged the timing of the announcement was poor and said he had no intention of sabotaging the US visit. He stressed that there are no plans to begin construction any time soon.

Israeli newspapers have lambasted the move, calling it an embarrassment to US-Israeli relations.