RAMALLAH, West Bank: US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice criticized Israeli settlement activity in exceptionally harsh language yesterday, saying new construction projects on disputed land were having a “negative effect” on Middle East peace talks.
Rice made the comments during her latest attempt to prod Israelis and Palestinians toward a final peace deal by the end of the year.
After a meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Rice said the US remains committed to the target date. But she said Israeli plans to build thousands of homes in the West Bank and east Jerusalem were hurting the negotiating atmosphere. Last week, Israel said it would build 1,300 new apartments in East Jerusalem.
“It’s important to have an atmosphere of trust and confidence,” Rice told reporters. She cautioned that she did not expect any “blinding breakthroughs.”
Rice said the status of all disputed land must be resolved through negotiations, and existing Israel settlements would not prejudice those talks.
She noted only minor improvements in the quality of life in the West Bank and Israel’s failure to keep its promises to remove unauthorized West Bank outposts, tiny enclaves put up by Jewish activists to expand settlements.
“I recognize that we haven’t made the progress that we would like to in terms of movement and access and removal of barriers,” she said. “Particularly I am concerned about the outposts, which are illegal, even under Israeli law.”
