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Comments (0)As U.S. Vice President Joe Biden again denounced the plan for new Israeli construction in eastern Jerusalem after meeting with Palestinian leaders, Israel’s interior minister apologized for the timing of the plan’s approval.
Eli Yishai apologized Wednesday during an interview on Israel Radio “for the distress this matter caused.”
He was referring to the announcement Tuesday by the Jerusalem District Planning Committee that it had authorized the construction of 1,600 units in Ramat Shlomo, an ultra-Orthodox neighborhood north of downtown Jerusalem. The committee is jointly run by the Interior Ministry and the Jerusalem municipality.
“If I’d have known, I would have postponed the authorization by a week or two since we had no intention of provoking anyone,” Yishai said. “It is definitely unpleasant that this happened during Biden’s visit.”
Yishai said he did not plan to cancel the approval of the plan.
Jerusalem is not part of the 10-month West Bank construction freeze set by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in late November.
Biden met Wednesday in Ramallah with Palestinian leaders, including Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad.
During a news conference with Abbas, Biden spoke out against the new construction approval, as he had a day earlier.
“It’s incumbent on both parties to build an atmosphere of support for negotiations and not to complicate them,” he said.
“We call on Israel to cancel these decisions,” Abbas said. “I call on the Israeli government not to lose a chance to make peace. I call on them to halt settlement building and to stop imposing facts on the ground, and to give the efforts of the Obama administration and Senator Mitchell the chance to succeed.”
Fayyad thanked Biden for his “strong statement of condemnation.”
Biden in a statement issued Tuesday, the second day of a visit that had been aimed at underscoring the closeness of the U.S.-Israel relationship, said that “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 and runs counter to the constructive discussions that I’ve had here in Israel.”
Until the statement, Biden’s visit had been going as planned, and he had said that there was “no space” between Israel and the United States when it came to Israel’s security.
Biden and Netanyahu in a two-hour meeting Monday reportedly focused on the Iran nuclear issue. The U.S. leader reportedly warned Netanyahu not to order a unilateral strike on Iran, and worked to get him on board with allowing U.S.-backed increased sanctions to have time to work.
Netanyahu called Biden “a real friend to me, and a real friend to Israel and to the Jewish people.”
U.N. Sappers to Destroy Gaza War Bombs
A United Nations sapper unit will enter the Gaza Strip to dispose of unexploded ordnance from the Gaza war.
The Israeli army has authorized the U.N. bomb disposal experts to enter Gaza through the Erez crossing on Wednesday.
The purpose of the visit is to prevent harm to Gaza’s residents, according to a statement from the Israeli army. The unit will remain in the area for several months to locate and neutralize the unexploded bombs from last winter’s Operation Cast Lead.
The army warned that explosions may be heard in the area of the Gaza Strip.
Civil Trial in Corrie Death Opens
A civil trial in the death of American activist Rachel Corrie by an Israeli military bulldozer opened in Haifa.
Some 40 protesters demonstrated outside the courthouse Wednesday, the first day of the trial, carrying signs reading “Remember Rachel Corrie.”
Her parents reportedly are demanding $324,000 in damages from the Israel Defense Forces.
Members of U.S. Vice President Joe Biden’s entourage met Tuesday with the Corrie family, Haaretz reported. The Corries and four witnesses who were with their daughter when she was killed are currently in Israel.
Corrie, 23, of Olympia, Wash., was wearing an orange vest and attempting to stop a bulldozer from demolishing a Palestinian home when she was killed seven years ago.
An Israeli army investigation following Corrie’s death found that the driver of the bulldozer did not intentionally run her over because he could not see the activist. The report accused Corrie and the pro-Palestinian International Solidarity Movement of “illegal, irresponsible and dangerous” behavior.
Witnesses say that Corrie was clearly visible and that activists shouted for the bulldozer to stop before it hit her.
The Corries sued Caterpillar Inc., the U.S. company that manufactured the bulldozer, but lost in court.