Watch CBS News

White House Slams Israeli Plan to Build in East Jerusalem

(AP)
The White House lashed out against Israel today after the country's municipal planning committee announced that it would move forward with a plan to build hundreds of new housing units in eastern Jerusalem, an area that Palestinians hope will be part of their future state.

Under the proposed Israeli plan, called "Gilo's Western Slopes," 900 more housing units would be built, mostly in the form of four and five bedroom apartments, in a Jewish neighborhood in East Jerusalem, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reports. This plan to advance has attracted harsh criticism from international powers, which see the expansion proposal as an infringement on a previous Israeli-Palestinian agreement and as an impediment to peace negotiations.

"We are dismayed at the Jerusalem Planning Committee's decision to move forward on the approval process for the expansion of Gilo in Jerusalem," White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said in a statement. "At a time when we are working to re-launch negotiations, these actions make it more difficult for our efforts to succeed. Neither party should engage in efforts or take actions that could unilaterally pre-empt, or appear to pre-empt, negotiations."

The situation is made murky by the disagreement surrounding ownership of East Jerusalem. Israel captured and claimed the territory in the 1967 Mideast War, but foreign countries do not recognize the claim. While the Israeli government has agreed not to move forward with new construction projects in the West Bank, Israel says that does not apply to East Jerusalem, the Associated Press reports.

Britain and the Palestinian Authority have joined the U.S. in speaking out against the Israeli plan. "The decision to build in the Gilo neighborhood is a mistake, and we oppose it," according to a statement by the British Foreign Ministry reported by Israeli news outlet Arutz Sheva.

"We condemn this in the strongest possible terms," added Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, according to the AP. "It shows that it is meaningless to resume negotiations when this goes on."

Israeli officials say that nothing is official yet. Jerusalem city spokesman Gidi Schmerling told the AP that Israel is "many months away" from a final decision. Opponents of the plans argue that Israel should not be planning to build new houses until there is an agreement on who owns the land.

"Our position is clear," Gibbs's release reads. "The status of Jerusalem is a permanent status issue that must be resolved through negotiations between the parties."

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.