On Tuesday, Israel announced that it had approved the construction of 1,100 homes for Jewish settlers in disputed east Jerusalem. The move, coming just days after Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas requested membership in the United Nations, cast further doubt on the prospect of renewing U.S.-brokered peace talks. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called Israel's act "counterproductive," and Egypt's foreign minister said Israel was being "provocative" and "irresponsible." Is that fair — or did the Palestinians ask for this with their U.N. power play?
Israel has created a new obstacle to peace: Israel's "timing could not be more inappropriate," says Tamsin Walker in Germany's Deutsche Welle. Just a week ago, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Abbas, "Let's get on with it. Let's negotiate peace." He could have demonstrated his sincerity by respecting Abbas' demand for a settlement freeze. Instead, Netanyahu did something the Palestinians saw, predictably, as a "slap in the face."
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