U.S. gave Israel green light for East Jerusalem construction

Haaretz should beproud for having a great objective and reasonable writer like Akiva Eldar. Great article and God bless you Akiva.

yeah, unless you are a gentile.

In what month and year did biden-his-time say that Israel would just have to get used to a nuclear Iran?

Let's face it. Israel through AIPAC controls the U.S. Congress with its lobby. The result is there will never be peace with the Palestinians. Sharon himself has said in the past that Israel controls the U.S. This grieves me.

Why? They are from the land, the ancestors of most of the Israeli Jews atop the land are not even FROM the Middle East. Ruthless & barbaric Khazar imposters. The fake Jews we're warned of in the New Testament.

Netanyahu can insult an American VP in this way, and seem to get away with it, primarily because of a long history as frienship, and the fact that AIPAC pretty much rules the roost in Washington. But what you don't see is the gradual shift in attitude in America. Primarily over whether it's in America's interest to keep subsidizing an increasingly fanatical State of Israel, pissing off Muslims, risking more terrorist attacks, and dying in pointless wars, basically so that a few thousand fanatical Jews can keep moving into occupied Palestinian land?

# 16 Your elephant in the room is a red herring. The right wing extremist in the Israeli government bring this up to distract attention from the real subject every chance they get. Th real subject: BORDERS!

but if the two States solutions doesn't work than a one State solution is the only plausible idea but guess what? That State will not be Israel on the long term. So keep enjoying the cake for now because a drastic diet awaits. Love, Davis.

If as you say Netanyahu needs to bring down the government and have new elections. Don't you remember Netanyahu asked Livni to join his Govt and proceed accordingly by making it a stronger one.But,sour grapes Livni was so sure she had won the election and refused to join Bibi. And therein is the problem.However,Bibi can still manage to continue and abide with his mandate when he was on the stump promising the electorate he will never deviate from his stance. Good points by you,but in politics nothing is definite.Bibi should stand firm on Jerusalem and the settlements including to subvert the demands by Abbas who is an insignificant man who never stops his usual demands which are not acceptable to Israel.

Who gives a damn what the Palestinians say. For Israel to survive it needs the West Bank. If a Palestine is created, a future enemy can make the Palestinian an ally and Israel will have a bigger problem on their hands. The Zionist have always known this, and the Zionist make plans, they plan decades ahead in the future. The Zionist goal has always been: The Complete, Absolute, and Total Ethnic Cleansing/Transfer of the Palestinian People to the other Arab Countries. Its a slow transfer, but it is a transfer.

When have the Kurds ever wanted to obliterate Turkey?

Once again, the forces of darkness appear to be winning. How anyone with a conscience and respect for human rights can say that what the Israeli gov't is doing to the Palestinians, is morally correct, is morally bereft.

The freeze that Netanyahu's government agreed to and that the USA applauded did not include Jerusalem. You didn't know this?

"Mark, you have in mind a Presidential system, but this is not the way it works in a coalition situation." - Logios I fully understand the difference. "While the Prime Minister can nowadays (not in the past) legally fire a minister, this power can be exercised towards ministers of his own party. If a minister of another party is fired without the consent of that party, the party will leave the coalition, bringing down the government." - To Know Then in Israel you don't have a government, you have a circus with a different master in each ring. I did not suggest that another party be given the portfolio, but I am suggesting that if someone is able to humiliate and defy Netanyahu, then he is not in control. OR, as is almost certainly the case, he is in control and is just lying about what happened.

Netanyahu needs to bring down the government and have new elections. He desperately needs a new coalition, this one is not working for him. Israel can put off any hard decisions until the new government is set up, and build in the settlements in the meantime. If Netanyahu is PM of the new coalition then he will have a clear mandate to do what he wants to do. He should do it in a few months, when things start to get unbearable the way they are. See if the USA will give some sort of concessions for making promises and starting negotiations. Continue negotiations until the USA starts to blame Israel for stalling. And then the new government can start negotiations fresh at the beginning. No agreements with PA, no disagreements, indirect negotiations can begin with no preconditions except that Israel will keep all of Jerusalem and most settlements and keep control of Palestine's water and airspace and borders.

I have to constantly remind myself that most politicians are motivated by power, its use and abuse. It seems that even US Democrats don't appreciate when it is used abusively against them, even tangentially.

Biden is not the U.S. He represents an administration that is accepted by an ever-increasing proportion of the U.S. population to be failing its own people -- politically, economically, and morally. Yes you are right.How any adminstration would or could be in aposition to recommend on how Israel should or not adhere to their wishes as though they think Israel is their vassal?or their 51st State. I think the Americans in the past have also tought they could order Israel the same way. In the end i.e during the Bush's tenure and the hard core Liza Rice's toing and froing...they could not alter the decisions made by Israel's leaders. And now these new KID'S ON THE BLOCK think they will? Not a chance in a million.They had better stop because this has been going on since Obama won the election and he is in too much a hurry to achieve the UNACHIEVABLE. As far as I can ascertain THIS CASE WILL BE CLOSED SOON to the advantage of Israel. Court is now in recess

Nah,nah there will be no change(nevermind Eldar)Hear shush.In politics you can say what you like.One day one thing,the next another. No,the status quo (in hopes) With Netanyahu will pevail.He did not win the election to give in the right of his COUNTRY to the outsiders. Israel will continue to build and most probably doing so now. Clinton may holler and cry FOUL,so can Obama.But the truth of the matter is:The US is frightened of Israel.They need the only TRUE_DEMOCRATIC_COUNTRY_THEY_CAN_RELY_ON_IN_THE_ME_.Think on it and don't enthuse too much on negativity pertaining Israel.

"And why has not Mr. Netanyahu asked for the resignation of Mr. Yishai whom he appointed? By retaining Yishai, Netanyahu has endorsed his actions." - Mark L Mark, you have in mind a Presidential system, but this is not the way it works in a coalition situation. While the Prime Minister can nowadays (not in the past) legally fire a minister, this power can be exercised towards ministers of his own party. If a minister of another party is fired without the consent of that party, the party will leave the coalition, bringing down the government. There is little Netanyahu can do to Yishai other than to talk in a way that will bring on Yishai his own party's unhappiness.

"And why has not Mr. Netanyahu asked for the resignation of Mr. Yishai whom he appointed? By retaining Yishai, Netanyahu has endorsed his actions." - Mark L Mark, you have in mind a Presidential system, but this is not the way it works in a coalition situation. While the Prime Minister can nowadays (not in the past) legally fire a minister, this power can be exercised towards ministers of his own party. If a minister of another party is fired without the consent of that party, the party will leave the coalition, bringing down the government. There is little Netanyahu can do to Yishai other than to talk in a way that will bring on Yishai his own party's unhappiness.

Netanyahu asked for for VICE PRESIDENT JOSEPH BIDEN to come to Israel. Netanyahu said they have a 30 year friendship/relationship. CJK: The Obama Team speaks with one voice one message. But Bibi asked for Biden.

Israel will learn what "float like a butterfly, sting like a bee" means, when dealing with Obama.

Biden is not the U.S. He represents an administration that is accepted by an ever-increasing proportion of the U.S. population to be failing its own people -- politically, economically, and morally. How can this administration pretend to be in a position to make any meaningful recommendation to other countries as to how they should conduct their affairs?

It is hard to blame ALL Israelis for the stupidity of their government, just as it was hard to blame ALL Americans for Bush. On the other hand, it seems that most people in Israel have become pretty stupid, since you have elected a government that appears to think that it is okay to let Shas fools jeopardize the relationship with the country's most important backer, and though away another opportunity for peace, simply to get 1,600 housing units within easy walking distance of the Western Wall for it cronies. I am pretty sure that you are even stupid enough to keep voting the same way, even if the US cut off all financial assistance. Maybe when the US cuts off military sales of new equipment and replacement parts someone will notice, but with Shas and the rest of the fools relying on the protection of the Almighty (but somehow not on the Lord of the Universe's ability to make apartment close to Yeshiva suddenly appear out of nothing)we will probably just see nothing change.

"The US won`t be getting the Russians and Chinese on board for US sanctions." - Mark of Lewiston Netanyahu just pushed the flush lever. But then Netanyahu needs a war more than he fears peace.

"biden was sent to israel to give netanyahu obama`s instructions. obama thinks that his dictatorial games can be imposed on israel." - Cipora Cipora, Biden was sent to Israel to affirm our support. EVERY time an emissary has come from the US to Israel their arrival has been met with an announcement of expanded settlements. Yet Obama sent his Vice President and a LONG TIME supporter of Israel and he was met with even a BIGGER humiliation than Mitchell, or Clinton. Get real Cipora. Either you cannot remember anything from the last year or you are purblind. "Purblind: lacking in vision, insight, or understanding"

"Seems to me that rather then a Netanyahu government planned insult to the Obama Administration, this is an example of the contradictory forces making up the Israeli government." - Darren This is a point I have considered. "Mr. Yishai is from a right wing, religious party bent on impressing it`s supporters with it`s tough stance on settlements, specifically when a US VP is visiting the Palestinians." - Darren And why has not Mr. Netanyahu asked for the resignation of Mr. Yishai whom he appointed? By retaining Yishai, Netanyahu has endorsed his actions.

No MATTER what the Palestinians do the steady annexation goes on. Israeli Institutional violence is the mother of ALL intifada's.... you don't want peace just land!.....PEACE NEVER?

You know who annexed most of Europe so I guess we were all wrong. In your books it was totally legal....PEACE NEVER?

Like many on the left, Eldar does not understand independence or freedom, but only dicatorship. The Netanyahu government never agreed to a freeze in Jerusalem. The Begin Government annexed all of liberated Jerusalem. So there is no legal problem with Jewish building in Israel's capital. Since the left wish to dictate to the nationa, even whilst they are in opposition, They also expect the USA to follow their dictates. But the west bank freeze itself was not justified. The Bush government had agreemnts with Sharon govt for natural growth in WB. If the US cannot be trusted to adhere to its own agreemnts, then why should Israel adhere to them?

has created an international storm because generally VP Joe Biden has honestly articulated his positions with regards to the Middle East, eg. condemning the building announcement while visiting Israel, and this perhaps has surprised many people even though the construction (if it will continue) is off by several years. Now compare how he emphatically spoke and Secretary of State Hilary Clinton...completely different. The talks should continue nevertheless.

Eldar tends to interpret the soft US response to Netanyahu's apology as giving a "green light" to Jerusalem construction. This is not the only possible interpretation, and in my opinion is not even correct. When Netanyahu says that construction will only start in years, he is essentially saying that there will be no construction during the peace talks, and the result of the talks will then determine if there will ever be construction. But, as usual, Yahoo fears his Likud party ideologues and cannot spell this out. On the other side, Obama speaks softly, does not insult, and prefers diplomacy behind the scenes. I don't think people should assume that Obama is not learning from his experiences and will never wield his big stick. In fact, he is now pushing for a Democrat version of his Health Reform bill, since the Republicans refused to participate. So he shoves it down their throat. With Israel, he already learned enough and said that the US will put the blame on those responsible.

and the latest news of permitting new buildings for Jewish residences in Israel was the gun and ammo that made biden blink and Obama swear. And, I love it... Israel is flexing her muscles, has her own independence, ( including the $ 3 billion Obama threatened possibly to remove from Israel for defense purposes) everything both Obama and others do to harm Israel will be met w/ the same confidence and doing what remains best for Israel andhttp://www.haaretz.com/hasen/images/objects/send.gif her citizens. Go Israel!! Israel is not obliged to take orders from America. She answers to a higher power.

Israel breaks every rule and gets rewarded for it. The EU is nearly as bad as the US in relation to letting Israel away with everything. As an EU citizen I'm appalled by the double standard applied to Israel.

[second time]of a Third Intafada?. Suicide-bombings, bloodshed, slaughter, rockets and mortars gave them Gaza, didn't it? What stops them this time? Regards.

Oh dear you didn't read your history books.Sheikh Jarrah (Or Shimon ha'tzadik) is Israeli and Jewish and has been so since 1875. The land was legaly bought and Jews were living there until 1948 when they have been expeld by th Brits in 48 Jordan has occupied the place.

Humiliation of Obama and Abbas is sweet pistache-honey cake for Iran. The Iranians are very silent right now but as soon as talks either stop or start they propably will unleash their biting propaganda about the whole sharade and the impotence of the US and it's moderate Arab allies.

What did you expect Joe Biden to say in his final speech in Tel Aviv....??? Something like: "It's very painful for me, but I just have realized, that Israel has become a little thug...???" Are you kidding...??? I'm afraid you and the Israeli governement are making a tremendous mistake, if you (mis)inter- prete Biden's diplomatic etiquette as a green light for further construction in East Jerusa- lem. But then again, it's not really news that you are making (rather often) tremendous mistakes...

How can the Americans claim to represent freedom, democracy and International Law and then reconcile those values with a theocracy that violates article 49 of the fourth Geneva Convention with its illegal settlements in occupied E.Jerusalem and the West Bank? They have to because the U.S. Congress and White House are still Israeli-occupied territory. They still got 'em by the balls politically. Just witness Biden's groveling--as Mr. Eldar points out--contrary to any rational U.S. interest. (And no, it gets tiresome to have to point out ahead of time in anticipation of the predictable ritual incantations to come, it is not "anti-semitic" or "self-hating" for me to point out that simple political reality.)

Do we ever remember a red light ? Ever ?

the other elephant, the smaller older one, has been in the room all along. it is the younger, just rememberaggrassive one that is causing all the problems for the past five years. just remember lebanon, syria and gaza and which country is the client state. iran will eventually implode, but it will take a considerable amount of time. yet time is precisely what we do not have. shabbat shalom, cipora

the other elephant, the smaller older one, has been in the room all along. it is the younger, just rememberaggrassive one that is causing all the problems for the past five years. just remember lebanon, syria and gaza and which country is the client state. iran will eventually implode, but it will take a considerable amount of time. yet time is precisely what we do not have. shabbat shalom, cipora

East Jerusalem is a palestinian city in international law, but also in reality. The palestinian population in the city grows every year, while Jews move away from Jerusalem in search of better quality of life. Not one country in the world recognizes East Jerusalem as Israeli, and all have their embassies in tel Aviv. Why further postpone peace for the sake of a few settlers in Sheikh Jarrah?

You can spin it anyway you like, but that's the ultimate message of this week's fiasco. Yishai gave Biden a perfect opportunity to demonstrates US even-handedness. The announcement of the 1600 houses was an outrageous provocation and Biden could simply have demanded that Israel withdraw it and he could have endorsed a Pal refusal to start the talks until Israel did. It would have been so easy, but he did nothing of the sort. Instead, after a token protest, he gave in entirely to Yishai and Israel and demanded the PA do the same. He even stated after being humiliated that the US has no better friend than Israel! Some friend, and by thw way, in the UK, one of your oldest allies, an ally that actually does things you want, thanks for the insult. Any idea that now America will be "far more sympathetic to the Palestinians' positions" is fantasy. Biden sold America's soul to Israel this week.

Eldar did not twist anything, we all understood the message Obama sent: we will support Israel no matter what! We the Palestinian-Israelis (who have no problem at all to live & share with the Jewish population but the majority of the latter don't want)& the 67 Palestinians r terribly disappointed. No matter which US President is in power he has no authority, Israel insults & humiliates the US and in return the US emphasizes it's loyalty to Israel. This has been and will remain this way. We shall never have the longed for peace. The whole matter is a complete farce. What a pitty.

Israel not only destroyed a year of US diplomacy with Abbas, but undermined the US position and credibility with Iran. Congrats, you get to deal with them yourselves for the most part. The US won't be getting the Russians and Chinese on board for US sanctions. Israel just set the model for Iran to deal with the US since they know the US is not going to start a war. Yishai is a member of the Israeli government which just kicked it's best friend in the US government right in the gonads. Even Fox News calls it like that. You've been moaning and groaning about ineffectual US policy. Well the Israeli government just made the US a laughing stock all over the world. With friends like Israel, who needs enemies?

... then why is Israel introducing a substantial additional elephant-into-the-room...? ... if one elephant is male and the other female, are we in the elephant-breeding buisness...?

All of this wasted energy discussing a problem that doesn't exist. The West Bank is virtually empty, mile after mile of rocks and empty hills, scattered villages in the distance. Israel is moving there, because its wide open space and cheap. The growth rate in the West Bank of Israeli Jews is phenomenal and birth rates there are 5-10 times greater than Europe. Within 10 years, 10-15% of all Israeli Jews will be living in the West Bank. This land will surely remain in the hands of Israel via a de factor annexation. The Arab villages will remain there and they will find work in the Jewish communities. Arab hotheads and agitators and terrorists will be efficiently identified and removed. The West Bank will be a great place to live, surely one of the most desirable places in the Arab world for Arabs today (already the economy in the West Bank is booming because of Israel's proximity and introduction of Western technology and business practices. There is no problem.

The fact is that NO Israeli govt ever - ever, ever, ever - will accede to evicting settlers from the West Bank. Over the years the Arabs will get stronger and stronger, weapons will get more readily available, with longer ranges, and ultimately, Israel will be attached by regional enemies. It's a depressing outlook but Israel will not - cannot - move the settlers and the Arabs are multiplying at astonishing rates, and their govts are getting more self-assured (just look at Syria) and acquiring more modern military technology. No concrete wall will keep out missiles aimed at Tel Aviv in a few years. The result will be deaths in Israel, Iran, Syria, Lebanon and the OT.

It's a free world with free speech anyway in a democracy such as Israel so you need not worry.

biden was sent to israel to give netanyahu obama's instructions. obama thinks that his dictatorial games can be imposed on israel. all he will achieve is a nuclear iran, no peace with the palestinians, and an enraged israeli public. in short order, he will have no allies, and many adversaries.

Seems to me that rather then a Netanyahu government planned insult to the Obama Administration, this is an example of the contradictory forces making up the Israeli government. Mr. Yishai is from a right wing, religious party bent on impressing it's supporters with it's tough stance on settlements, specifically when a US VP is visiting the Palestinians.

israel's major concern is the looming iranian nuclear threat. as long as obama allows iran to go nuclear, he cannot expect any real cooperation from israel. as is, there are 100,000 missiles minimum aimed at israel, her population and industrial centers. many of these missiles are sophisticated. today, israel faces the gravest danger to her security since the yom kippur war. biden was sent mainly to tell israel that she is not allowed to attack iran. since the obama administration feels it can interfere in all and any way in the internal and defence of the state of israel, israel has every right to fight back. the day iran has the bomb, and that day is very near, the issue of jerusalem will become moot.

We need to know several things. Those who have EVER supported Israel need to know several things. 1. What is wrong with Israel that it has become totally self-destructive? 2. Why does Israel repeatedly - and according to this story - lie to the USA one day and then tell another which refutes the lie of the day before? 3. Why does Israel think it has every right to humiliate, lie about and undermine that nation which has been it's most consistent and persistent ally since the late 1960s? 4. Who in the Netanyahu government ACTUALLY approved of not only the humiliation of a few days ago, but the humiliation in this article? Either the action taken by the Interior Ministry of the Netanyahu Government was a 'mistake in timing', OR the excuse given in this article is true. IN EITHER CASE the intent was clear. The Netanyahu Government intended to humiliate the USA. Both cannot be true, and if either is true the other 'official' explanation is a lie.

I can remember back in 1969 when packages of hash from the Golan, recently conquered by Israel, started showing up in Miami with notes incloses saying 'mazel tov!' I thought it a bit overboard, but the message was clear. What dope is Akiva Eldar, Haaretz, and Israel smoking now? We are now expected to believe that the Obama administration was told that if it sent Joe Biden to Israel he would be humiliated, and ridiculed? Then we were willing to be humiliated? Or that the government of Israel lied about Bibi being upset? Because if America had agreed to being humiliated and ridiculed, why would Bibi be embarrassed? The lies of the Netanyahu government trip over themselves. The Netanyahu government IS Israel. And Israel cannot get it's lies straight. Either what was said yesterday is the truth, or what is said today is the lie. If what Akiva Eldar tells us today is the truth, then what Netanyahu told us yesterday is the lie. Is there any worse liar than a self-refuting liar?

Sure we did. That is why we were shocked to have it shoved up our ass. Is there any adult supervision at Haaretz? Is it nothing but a propaganda outlet for Netanyahu? Is there anyone in Israel that believes the USA sent Biden to Israel so that he could be humiliated, insulted and played as a fool? To believe this article is to believe the USA is a suicidal nation and the Obama administration is glad to be destroyed by Israel. Get real folks. Israel needs adult supervision. If it's government gets away with this lie, this article which says that the USA agreed to be insulted, humiliated and degraded and then was happy to help out, then Israel is as a totally insane nation. Which - as a supposed 'liberal' and 'opposition' paper like Haaretz is willing to publish such insane trash, must be so dangerously insane as be a threat not only to it's allies, the world and its self as to require immediate remediation.

When the Americans claim to represent freedom, democracy and International Law, then how can they reconcile those values with Israel - a theocracy that violates article 49 of the fourth Geneva Convention with its illegal settlements in occupied E.Jerusalem and the West Bank - that seems to be US hypocrisy on a grand scale.

as isolated from rest of West Bank construction freeze. Jerusalem was a separate item on the Road Map agreement. Of course, this mishap was bound to happen during Vice President Biden's visit as there are different interest groups in Israel. But it seems that there was no communication about the announcement to either Interior Minister Yishai or the PMO. Why think that this should necessarily happen again?

Congress also passed a law against drinking alcoholic beverages and yet that is not the law of the land today. This is because, as times change, and situations change, congress must change the laws to adapt. One thing for sure. Israel has lost a lot of respect in the world since 1995. The American embassy, as well as most of the worlds embassies will never appear in an undivided Israeli Jerusalem.

congress will have to change previous resolutions if they want a peace treaty , US deficit is skyrocketing, pumpimg money into a lost cause is not kosher.

And every President since then has postponed it and will continue to postpone it until a settlement with the Palestinians is achieved. So what's your point?

You've twisted the title of this article in an obviously false way and it shows you have absolutely no reporting merit. You're sending a completely false message. The speech VP Biden gave at Tel Aviv University clearly condemned Bibi's decision to continue building settlements. The backwards and twisted logic you present here is an abomination to reality.

Israel will also be turned down for OECD membership. It's a shame its citizens don't realize what kind of isolation is in store for Israel for failing to reach a peace agreement.

Mr Eldar! It seems from your article that you are taking the side of the Palestinians with regards to Yerushalayim. It seems that you regard East Jerusalem as a "settlement", just as our enemies do. I know that you belong to the "left". But don't you have a little bit of a Jewish heart? Don't you at all feel some sentiments towards the Kotel, Har Habayit? You would like to see Jerusalem divided with a barbed wire the way it was prior to the Six Day War in 1967? You would like to see a time when Jews are prevented to go to the Kotel? A time when anything Jewish was destroyed or desecrated,like the Jordanians did between 1948 and 1967? I can not understand people like you. I wonder why you live in Israel. You should move to Ramalla or Gaza. You will feel more at home there. Abbas is thinking more like you than Netanyahu does.

Isarel has showed it's true face, just like Hamas it's no partner for peace talks. The extremists are taking over all middle east.

let us say that the establishment of a palestinian state is a humanitarian need -- yes, the palestinians are being persecuted everywhere, and like the jews, they deserve a state of their own (so long as they do not threaten israel...after all, this is a peace process). fine. is east jerusalem as a palestinian capital a humanitarian need? no. further, jerusalem was never a capital of any arab state, and whenever it was anything more than a little village of a few thousand inhabitants, the censuses show that it had a jewish majority. further, jerusalem, which holds the largest jewish population in israel, is surrounded on all sides by the west bank, and has no room to expand. further, when jerusalem was divided from 1948-1967, the jewish quarter was virtually demolished, including the 'other' (jewish) domes of jerusalem that were not the al aqsa mosque, and the mount of olives cemetary desecrated. i can't think of one reason to divide jerusalem.

In 1995, the 104th Congress passed the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995 [5], in which the legislators stated that "(1) Each sovereign nation, under international law and custom, may designate its own capital. (2) Since 1950, the city of Jerusalem has been the capital of the State of Israel?. (9) In 1990, the Congress unanimously adopted Senate Concurrent Resolution 106, which declares that the Congress 'strongly believes that Jerusalem must remain an undivided city in which the rights of every ethnic and religious group are protected.' (10) In 1992, the United States Senate and House of Representatives unanimously adopted Senate Concurrent Resolution 113 of the One Hundred Second Congress to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem, and reaffirming Congressional sentiment that Jerusalem must remain an undivided city."