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Last update - 22:10 20/07/2009
U.S.: No unilateral moves in East Jerusalem
By Natasha Mozgavaya, Haaretz Correspondent and News Agencies

The United States believes that unilateral moves on the part of either Israel or the Palestinians could prejudice the result of final status negotiations, the State Department said on Monday.

State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said the U.S. has made clear to Israel that it views construction in East Jerusalem with the same opposition that it has for settlement activity in the West Bank.

"This is not a new issue, those issues came up a number of times," Crowley said, confirming that a construction project in East Jerusalem had been a topic of conversation last week during a meeting between senior U.S. diplomats and Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren.
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"We've made our views known to Israel. This kind of construction is a type of issues that should be subject to permanent-status negotiations," Crowley said, adding: "We are concerned that unilateral actions taken by the Israelis or the Palestinians cannot prejudge the outcome of these negotiations."

U.S. officials said Oren met with Deputy Secretary of State for Management Jacob Lew, who told him that Washington was troubled by the project in East Jerusalem's Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, which would see 20 apartments developed by American millionaire Irving Mokowitz.

The spat emerged publicly on Sunday when Netanyahu told his cabinet there would be no limits on Jewish construction anywhere in unified Jerusalem.

"We cannot accept the fact that Jews wouldn't be entitled to live and buy anywhere in Jerusalem, he said, calling Israeli sovereignty over the entire city indisputable.

American sources have informed both Israel and the Palestinian Authority that the United States views East Jerusalem as no different from an illegal West Bank outpost with regard to its demand for a freeze on settlement construction.

The special U.S. envoy for Middle East peace, George Mitchell, will departs for the
region this week amid these new signs of tension between the U.S. and Israeli governments over settlement construction.

Mitchell, a former U.S. senator, plans to visit Israel, the Palestinian territories and several neighboring countries, including Bahrain. His itinerary was still being worked out Monday.

He will head for the region as the administration tries to build Arab support for a resumption in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, a mission complicated by American divisions with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on settlements.

Dissension flared anew over the weekend when Netanyahu rejected a U.S. demand to suspend a planned housing project in east Jerusalem.

The international community considers Jewish neighborhoods in East Jerusalem to be settlements and an obstacle to peacemaking because they complicate a possible division of the city. Israel does not regard them as settlements because it annexed east Jerusalem after capturing the area in 1967. The annexation has not been recognized internationally.

Settlements on captured lands claimed by the Palestinians are a major sticking point in relations between Israel and the Obama administration. Nearly 300,000 Israelis live in West Bank settlements, in addition to about 180,000 Israelis living in Jewish neighborhoods in East Jerusalem.

East Jerusalem is an especially volatile because it is the site of key Jewish, Christian and Muslim holy sites. The Palestinians want the traditionally Arab sector of the city to be the capital of their future state. The Palestinians have refused to restart peace talks until Israel halts all settlement expansion.

Mitchell has been attempting to negotiate a deal under which Israel would at least temporarily freeze settlement activity in a bid to bring the Palestinians to the table and attract Arab concessions toward Israel.

Several options have been discussed, including a six-month freeze that would allow Israel to finish construction on some settlement projects that have already been contracted, but officials say no deal has yet been struck.

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      1.   "Permanent Status" Issues 22:28  |  Christopher 20/07/09
      2.   U.S.: No unilateral moves in East Jerusalem 23:12  |  flora 20/07/09
      3.   we are free to make whatever we want in jerusalem 23:27  |  dovdevan 20/07/09
      4.   Suppose there are no final status talks 23:32  |  BobUSA 20/07/09
      5.   A lot of pressure on Israel; none on Palestinians 23:34  |  Charles Morgan 20/07/09
      6.   Kish Meer America ! Give Washington back to the Natives ! 23:39  |  Yisrael 20/07/09
      7.   "Israeli sovereignty over the entire city indisputable" 23:47  |  Avi 20/07/09
      8.   Troubled? 23:55  |  Max 20/07/09
      9.   Palestine territories NOT palestinean territories! 23:57  |  Jeff 20/07/09
      10.   Jew-only apartments 00:02  |  binny 21/07/09
      11.   the US could withhold all monies and diplomatic support 00:05  |  US 21/07/09
      12.   Where did Israel get the idea they were lords of the OT`s 00:09  |  Ivar 21/07/09
      13.   Palestinians should create facts on the ground 00:14  |  Secular 21/07/09
      14.   No unilateral moves in East Jerusalem? 00:21  |  Josiah J. Ben David 21/07/09
      15.   Once Again All of Jerusalem is Israel`s so hold tongue 00:49  |  Chaim Ben Kahan 21/07/09
      16.   Yes, it is for real, so it seems 00:50  |  Mark B. 21/07/09
      17.   Casting the US as an honest broker ? 00:51  |  Darth Zaider (Ed) 21/07/09
      18.   Yankee Go Home!!! 01:26  |  disgusted american 21/07/09
      19.   note who Oren is called to talk with... 01:44  |  avramele 21/07/09
      20.   Speak softly and carry a big stick. 01:44  |  Analyst Jack 21/07/09
      21.   This is weird. Anyone with money can buy appts anywhere in J`lem 01:55  |  fedup 21/07/09
      22.   More signs of disconnect from Israel 02:01  |  Johnboy 21/07/09
      23.   East Jerusalem 02:09  |  Michelle 21/07/09
      24.   Why wait?Everyone knows Netanyahu`s final position on Jerusalem. 02:13  |  Sam 21/07/09
      25.   East Jlem 02:14  |  Justice 21/07/09
      26.   Jerusalem Belongs To The Israelis 02:17  |  Brendan 21/07/09
      27.   Unilateral Colonialism 02:38  |  Cynical American 21/07/09
      28.   So many, EAGER TO ACT ILLEGALLY, what became of common decency? 05:52  |  CJ 21/07/09
      29.   Why shouldn`t Israel built on their land? 06:00  |  Mark 21/07/09
      30.   Mark - Since when has it been Israeli land? 06:16  |  CJ 21/07/09
      31.   US correct in upholding International Law in Jerusalem 07:34  |  Ivar 21/07/09
      32.   Protocol I additional to the Geneva Conventions 07:37  |  Ivar 21/07/09
      33.   The Arabs are unwilling to make any concession. 08:34  |  B. Gold 21/07/09
      34.   #10 another gormless idiot posts total crap 08:49  |  v hardman 21/07/09
      35.   It`s comming to you... 09:01  |  Mr.Fed-up 21/07/09
      36.   The "bubble" of settlements explodes... 09:27  |  S 21/07/09
      37.   CJ common decency and the law are 2 different things 09:59  |  Peter Williams 21/07/09
      38.   It is becoming obvious 14:07  |  glowski 21/07/09
      39.   Obama Plan 10:53  |  Reid 22/07/09
      40.   Interesting comments in the LATEST state dept briefing 11:36  |  Johnboy 22/07/09
      41.   America is no longer a true friend or ally of Israel. 13:41  |  petra 22/07/09
      42.   Yisrael I`m afraid you`re right. 13:43  |  petra 22/07/09
      43.   CJ name a country that didn`t? 13:46  |  petra 22/07/09
      44.   Johnboy stay in Australia 13:51  |  petra 22/07/09
      45.   Cynical American? ( Not likely) 13:53  |  petra 22/07/09
      46.   #43-44 petra shrills the zionist lament 14:41  |  Johnboy 22/07/09
      47.   reid the only difference 16:29  |  michael 26/07/09
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