“It is incumbent on both parties to build an atmosphere of support for negotiations and not to complicate them,” Biden said in a media statement alongside Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
“Yesterday the decision by the Israeli government to advance planning for new housing units in East Jerusalem undermines that very trust, the trust that we need right now in order to begin ... profitable negotiations,” Biden said.
In Jerusalem, an Israeli Cabinet minister apologized for what he termed “real embarrassment” caused to Biden by the news on Tuesday that Israel would erect 1,600 homes in an area of the occupied West Bank it annexed to the holy city.
Aides to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had been blindsided by the announcement of the plan by the Interior Ministry, run by Shas, an ultraorthodox nationalist party that is a key member of his governing coalition.
Abbas, who agreed to indirect talks with Israel after he had made a settlement freeze a condition for resuming peace negotiations, urged Israeli leaders to cancel the decision.
But the Palestinian leader gave no indication the so-called “proximity talks” would not proceed. No date, venue or agenda has been set. “The American administration must put pressure on Israel so the indirect talks are not obstructed,” said Nabil Abu Rudainah, an Abbas aide.
Biden made no reference to any possible postponement. He spoke of “indirect talks being launched” — giving no date — and said they should lead to direct negotiations. He said the United States would hold both sides accountable for any statements or actions “that inflame tensions or prejudice the outcome of talks, as this decision did” — a reference to the settlement plan.”
