WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The United States has expressed deep concern at Israel’s announcement that it would build 300 more houses in a West Bank settlement and hundreds more in East Jerusalem, State Department deputy spokesperson Mark Toner said.
“We are deeply concerned about the Israeli government’s announcement of the advancement of nearly 300 new housing units in the West Bank settlement of Beit El, as well as hundreds of new housing units in East Jerusalem,” Toner said in a statement on Wednesday.
The Obama administration maintains the consistent position of all US governments since after the 1967 Israel-Arab War that all Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem are illegitimate, Toner continued.
“[W]e strongly oppose steps to advance construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem,” the State Department official added.
The latest move by Israel’s right-wing government, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, also “calls into question Israel’s commitment to a negotiated resolution to the conflict,” Toner warned.
The United States, he concluded, continues to urge the Israeli government to refrain from “unhelpful actions” that undercut the possibility of a two-state solution.
Personal relations between Netanyahu and US President Barack Obama have reportedly been very poor, especially since Netanyahu addressed a joint session of the US Congress in March 2015 in an unsuccessful effort to get pro-Israel legislators to block the emerging nuclear agreement with Iran.
