jerusalem | Only two days after the first round of indirect talks with the Palestinians concluded, Israel was again speaking publicly about construction in east Jerusalem.
Cabinet Secretary Zvi Hauser on May 9 said construction will proceed on schedule although it might take a couple of years before work begins on the Ramat Shlomo neighborhood — a contentious project that caused a serious rift with Washington.
But Hauser said the following day that, in the meantime, projects will be built in other east Jerusalem neighborhoods where construction bids already have been issued.
Palestinians reacted immediately, accusing Israel of undermining trust, and urged President Barack Obama to intervene.
Whether this latest rift will delay further Israeli-Palestinians talks was still unclear by mid-week.
Ironically, as the first talks concluded, the Obama administration praised Israel for halting east Jerusalem construction. The White House also took note of the Israeli government’s delicate balancing act in seeking to please both the United States and its hard-line coalition partners.
But before last weekend was over, Hauser told Army Radio that “building is expected to begin soon in [the east Jerusalem neighborhoods of] Har Homa … and Neve Yaakov, where [construction] bids have been issued.”
Construction also got under way this week on a 14-unit apartment building for Jews in the Ras al-Amud neighborhood of east Jerusalem. The project is being built by private settlers and did not require government approval.
Palestinians said the project violated the terms of the new peace talks, in which Israel has promised not to take any provocative actions. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said he would raise his concerns with the U.S. side.
“The Americans said some words to us, and they said some words to the Israelis, and now it’s up to the U.S. administration to answer such things,” Abbas told reporters.
To that end, Obama and Abbas spoke by phone May 11, with Obama reportedly urging the Palestinians to move to direct negotiations as soon as possible.
Obama said that the two sides need to “negotiate seriously and in good faith” and stressed his intention “to hold both sides accountable for actions that undermine trust during the talks,” according to a statement put out by the White House after the call.
The statement also noted that Obama looked forward to hosting Abbas at the White House in the near feature, making official a meeting reported for weeks to be in the works.
Obama also hailed the start of indirect talks and congratulated Abbas upon their launch. He also praised Abbas for reaching out to the Israeli people in a recent interview on Israel television and called on the Palestinian Authority leader to do “everything he can” to prevent acts of incitement and delegitimization of Israel.
As the United States tries to get the proximity talks moving, however, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said the Israeli plans for east Jerusalem undermined trust-building.
“The whole concept of proximity talks is to give Senator George Mitchell and U.S. President Barack Obama the chance they deserve,” Erekat said. “If they begin doing this [building], I think they will take down the proximity talks.”
The Palestinians want east Jerusalem as the capital of a future state and see continued Israeli construction there as undermining their claim.
Mitchell, the U.S. Mideast envoy, left the region May 9 and was expected to return within two weeks for another round of indirect talks. The sides are meeting separately, with Mitchell shuttling back and fourth.
The U.S. praised both sides for taking small steps to create a positive atmosphere.
Palestinian officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were discussing private communications with U.S. officials, said they had been assured that Israel would refrain from authorizing new housing in both Jewish and Arab neighborhoods of east Jerusalem, though projects already under way could be finished.
On the ground currently, construction is proceeding on hundreds of previously approved housing units for Jews in east Jerusalem.
Israeli Cabinet Minister Dan Meridor this week reiterated his government’s position that Jerusalem must remain the Jewish state’s undivided capital. He said Israel could not accept a “discriminatory” policy that barred Jews from living in certain parts of the city.
But in a sign of possible compromise, he said “the policy of the government will try to be wise.”
Sovereignty over Jerusalem is the most emotionally charged issue dividing Israel and the Palestinians. The city is home to a deeply contentious site that houses both the remnants of the biblical Jewish Temples and the al Aksa mosque.
Israel annexed east Jerusalem after capturing it from Jordan in the 1967 Middle East war, but no other country has recognized that.
The Jerusalem Post and Associated Press writer Amy Teibel contributed to this report.