“..Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Friday delivered a stinging rebuke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his government’s announcement this week of new Jewish housing in east Jerusalem ..
.. calling it “a deeply negative signal” for the Mideast peace process .. and ties with the U.S.
The State Department said Clinton spoke to Netanyahu by phone for 43 minutes to vent U.S. frustration with Tuesday’s announcement that cast a pall over a visit to Israel by Vice President Joe Biden ..
.. and endangered indirect peace talks with the Palestinians .. that the Obama administration had announced just a day earlier.
The length and unusually blunt tone of Clinton’s call underscored the administration’s concern about prospects for the negotiations it has been trying to organize for more than a year ..
.. and its anger over Israel’s refusal to heed U.S. appeals not to make provocative gestures.
“The announcement of the settlements on the very day that the vice president was there was insulting,” Clinton said in an interview with CNN Friday.
“It was just really a very unfortunate and difficult moment for everyone, the U.S., our vice president who had gone to reassert America’s strong support for Israeli security ..
.. and I regret deeply that that occurred .. and made that view known.”
Clinton called “to make clear that the United States considered the announcement to be a deeply negative signal about Israel’s approach to the bilateral relationship and counter to the spirit of the vice president’s trip,” State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley told reporters.
“The secretary said she could not understand how this happened, particularly in light of the United States’ strong commitment to Israel’s security ..
.. and she made clear that the Israeli government needed to demonstrate .. not just through words but through specific actions ..
.. that they are committed to this relationship and to the peace process,” he said.
The harsh criticism of America’s closest Mideast ally and questions about its commitment to the U.S.-Israeli relationship followed equally blunt condemnation of the housing announcement from the White House and Biden himself.
It also comes ahead of a trip to the region by U.S. Mideast peace envoy George Mitchell ..
.. and a meeting in Moscow next week of the Quartet of Mideast peacemakers that Clinton will attend..”
go to source/story>>Clinton Slams Israel’s Settlement Plans: ‘Deeply Negative Signal’
