On the day that President Obama signed his health care bill, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu crisscrossed Washington to explain Israel's position on plans to construct 1,600 new housing units in East Jerusalem.

Netanyahu met Tuesday with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and later privately with President Barack Obama. Hours before his meeting with Obama, the White House said talks between Vice President Joe Biden and Netanyahu on Monday night were "candid" and "productive". The nature of the language and the use of the word "candid" which often is used in diplomatic parlance to indicate that disagreements were aired, reflected the tense state of the US-Israeli relationship.

After his talks with Biden, Netanyahu told thousands of participants at American Israel Public Affairs Committee's (AIPAC) annual conference that Jerusalem is not a settlement, and rejected calls for halting settlement activities there, claiming the city as "part of Israel in any peace settlement" and its capital. AIPAC members gave him a thunderous standing ovation.

He pressed this point during his meeting with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Monday, which was off-limits to the press. Netanyahu showed her graphs and data regarding planning and construction in Jerusalem in efforts to convince her of the difficulties the government faces in monitoring every phase of planning approval in the city. Netanyahu informed Clinton that he would not change government policy on construction in East Jerusalem, which has not changed in the 42 years it has been in Israeli hands.

In a rebuff on Tuesday, the State Department said only direct Israeli-Palestinian negotiations will resolve the final status of Jerusalem, not unilateral actions or announcements. The international community considers East Jerusalem occupied territory along with the West Bank.

Also on Monday Netanyahu spoke to some 300 representatives and senators at the AIPAC banquet. He discussed the Iranian nuclear program and the peace process with the Palestinians, but mostly worked to convey a message of common interests and close relations between Israel and the United States.

Sensing an opportunity, many prominent pro-Israel Congressmen joined with AIPAC in taking Netanyahu's side against the Obama administration. Sen. Lindsey O. Graham, the Republican speaker at AIPAC's dinner Monday night, said that allies should "disagree quietly." "Jerusalem is not a settlement! ... No government in the United States should ever look at Jerusalem as a settlement!" said Graham.

As if on cue Tuesday, the leader of Israeli Settlers' Council said it plans to triple Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank despite international pressure to halt settlement expansion on Palestinian lands. "It's totally viable to envisage a million Jews living in Judea and Samaria," said Naftali Bennett.

— With input from agencies