Arabs, Jews United Against Jerusalem Tram

Palestine condemns move

(NEWSER) - In a move sure to ratchet up Israeli-Palestinian tension even further, Israel gave the OK today to construct 1,100 new housing units in east Jerusalem. Israel’s Interior Ministry says construction can begin after 60 days, a period that is mandatory for comments from the public but largely a formality, the AP reports. While the Palestinians say east Jerusalem is their future capital, and have called for a halt to all settlement construction there, Israel says the area is a part of its own capital, an undivided Jerusalem. More»

Administration 'turned gaffe into showdown'

(NEWSER) - Israel's announcement of settlement expansion in Jerusalem during Joe Biden's visit was lousy timing, but President Obama has turned this "gaffe" into a crisis, writes Charles Krauthammer. The Israelis did their best to smooth it over but the administration used the incident to tell Israel it had to show it was serious about peace, when Israel has never been anything but, Krauthammer argues in the Washington Post. More»

Israel outraged, Livni says move 'not helpful and wrong'

(NEWSER) - European Union foreign ministers will call for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with East Jerusalem serving as the capital of Palestine, when they meet in Brussels next week. A Swedish draft of the resolution obtained by Haaretz implies that the EU would recognize a Palestinian declaration of statehood. It urges both sides to cease “provocative action,” and calls on Israel to “cease all discriminatory treatment of Palestinians in East Jerusalem.” More»

(NEWSER) - Amid intense US-Israeli negotiations over settlements, Israel today brushed off Washington’s request to stop an American millionaire's housing project in East Jerusalem, the Jerusalem Post reports. Palestinians have complained that it would change demographics in the Arab-dominated area. But Obama "had crossed a red line" in asking Israel to cease building in Jerusalem, said sources close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. More»

Israeli PM calls timeline for Palestinian pact 'unrealistic'

(NEWSER) - Ehud Olmert said today it is "unrealistic" to expect a comprehensive Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement by the end of the year. The Israeli PM and Palestian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas pledged last year to make a deal by the end of 2008, and their inability to do so is a blow to President Bush's hopes for the situation to be resolved before he leaves office, reports the Financial Times. More»