Israel at Odds with US

Over the past week the world has seen the US and Britain wag its finger at Jerusalem. Vice President Joe Biden chastised Israel for announcing a new construction site in disputed soil during his visit last week. Britain expelled an Israeli diplomat over issuing fake British passports to Mossad assassins used for a killing in Dubai. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on a peace-keeping visit, said in a speech: “Jerusalem is not a settlement; it’s our capital,” refusing to budge on the disputed construction site in the Ramat Shlomo neighborhood in Eastern Jerusalem.

The Obama administration is now at a public loggerhead with Israel and will have to put pressure on the construction in East Jerusalem, which Palestine is hoping will be the capital of their eventual state. While, in Britain on Tuesday, a host of lawmakers used harsh language to excoriate Israel on the floor of Parliament, calling for the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador, urging criminal prosecution of those involved in the Dubai operation and going so far as to say that Israel was becoming a “rogue state.” The Israeli government only issued a short regretful statement to the press about the dismissal.

The new municipality in East Jerusalem will be a hot topic in talks about Middle-East peace. Israel has refused to share sovereignty of Jerusalem and believe religiously that it should not be divided. Palestinians declared these recent building sites as proof that Israel cares nothing about peace. Palestinian diplomat Saeb Erekat condemned the plan, and said it damaged Israel's credibility as a peace partner. "There is growing international frustration with Israel over the actions and decisions it is taking," Mr. Erekat said. "Israel is digging itself into a hole that it will have to climb out of if it is serious about peace. There is overwhelming international consensus on the illegality of Israel's settlements, including in East Jerusalem, and the damage they are doing to the two-state solution."

Israel annexed East Jerusalem after capturing it in the 1967 Mideast war, but the move was never recognized internationally. The international community sees Jewish neighborhoods in East Jerusalem as no different from settlements in the West Bank.