After Obama Criticizes Israel, Palestinians Push For Urgent U.N. Security Council Meeting

Buoyed by President Obama’s criticism of Israel during his visit to Indonesia, the Palestinian Authority is seeking an urgent U.N. Security Council meeting to confront Israel on its housing plans in Jerusalem.

Abbas’ spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeinah told news agencies the P.A. wanted the Security Council to tackle “the issue of widespread settlement in Jerusalem and the West Bank.”

Israel’s confirmation this week of plans to build some 1,300 new apartments in its capital city triggered a fresh storm of protest, with P.A. negotiator Saeb Erekat calling for “dramatic international action for immediate recognition of the Palestinian state,” with east Jerusalem as its capital.

As with previous such announcements, the Obama administration State Department censured Israel for “unhelpful” activity.

Obama joined the criticism, saying in Jakarta that “each of these incremental steps can end up breaking trust” between the Israeli and Palestinian sides.

Palestinians welcomed the president’s comments. “Obama leads world chorus against Israel plan for Jerusalem,” ran the headline over the Palestinian news agency Ma’an’s report on the issue.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who is scheduled to meet with Netanyahu in New York on Thursday, echoed the criticism.

Speaking in Washington during a video linkup with P.A. Prime Minister Salam Fayyad Wednesday, she and called the housing plan “counterproductive to our efforts to resume negotiations between the parties.”

From Israel’s perspective, it is the administration’s stance on building in Jerusalem that is complicating the situation, by taking positions that buttress the P.A. in its refusal to return to talks unless Israel backs down.

“Jerusalem is not a settlement,” Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s office retorted in a statement hours after the president’s remarks, repeating an assertion he has come to use frequently over the two years since Obama took office.

“Israel sees no link between the peace process and its development plans in Jerusalem,” the statement read. “All Israeli governments in the past 40 years have built in all parts of the city.”      More on this