Israel PM expresses ‘regret’ over settlement timing

Tel Aviv, March 11: Hardline Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a public apology to the visiting US vice president on Thursday in a bid to defuse a row over illegal Jeiwsh settlements which prompted a Palestinian boycott of indirect peace talks.

Vice President Joe Biden welcomed Netanyahu’s statement but again criticised Israel’s decision to approve construction of 1,600 new homes for illegal Jewish settlers in Israeli-occupied Palestinian East Jerusalem, which was announced during his visit this week.

Israel’s right-wing prime minister, who supports expanding illegal Jewish settlements, said he had spoken to Biden and “expressed his regret for the unfortunate timing.”

Biden welcomed Netanyahu’s response.

“Sometimes only a friend can deliver the hardest truths, and I appreciate … the response by the prime minister today,” Biden said in a speech at Tel Aviv University.

He noted that Netanyahu “clarified that the beginning of actual construction on this particular project would likely take several years.”

“That’s significant because it gives negotiators the time to resolve this as well as other outstanding issues,” said Biden, who had strongly condemned Israel’s go-ahead for the settlement construction.

Netanyahu called Biden on Thursday morning, “and both agreed the crisis is behind them,” an official in the premier’s office said.

Netanyahu indicated he was unaware of the announcement by the interior ministry, and his office said he had summoned Interior Minister Eli Yishai on Wednesday to express his “displeasure” at the timing of the announcement.

The Palestinians however rejected the statement because it only addressed the timing of the project and not its substance.

“The statement is unacceptable because it talks about an error in timing and not the error in substance, which is the continuation of settlements that must stop,” Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erakat said.

“The continuation of settlements is the error, not the timing of them, because they are always illegal.”

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said earlier he would not enter into any negotiations with Israel until the illegal Jerusalem settlement project was frozen, while the Arab League withdrew its support for indirect talks.

The League issued a statement overnight following an emergency meeting of Arab ambassadors saying “the Israeli measures must be stopped before any discussion on a resumption of talks, direct or indirect.”

Biden had hoped his visit to the Middle East would boost the chances of indirect talks. Instead he found himself dealing with the fall-out from Israel’s decision.

Netanyahu also came under fire from a minister of the centre-left Labour party, a key ally in his otherwise right-wing coalition, who warned that the party may quit over the move.

“Members of the Labour party have more and more difficulty in taking part in a coalition government that they joined with the purpose of relaunching the peace process with the Palestinians,” Agriculture Minister Shalom Simhon said.

The decision to build the homes in the ultra-Orthodox Ramat Shlomo neighbourhood ignited an international furore, with both the European Union and the United Nations reiterating that all settlements are “illegal.”

Several states issued their own condemnations, including veto-wielding Security Council permanent members Russia, which called the move “unacceptable,” and Britain, which said it would “give strength to those who argue that Israel is not serious about peace.”

Turkey, Israel’s closest Muslim ally in the region, also slammed the move, saying that it raised “serious doubts” about Israel’s commitment to peace.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Crowley said Mitchell would raise the matter when he returned to the region next week.

On Monday, Mitchell had helped broker a deal to begin indirect talks. The last round of direct negotiations collapsed when Israel launched a devastating offensive against the Gaza Strip in December 2008.

—Agencies