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US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton - Source: Reuters -
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Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Israeli settlement policy endangered peace talks with the Palestinians, underscoring sharp differences with Israel as its leader began a Washington visit.
"New construction in East Jerusalem or the West Bank undermines mutual trust and endangers the proximity talks that are the first step toward the full negotiations that both sides want and need," Clinton said in a speech to the pro-Israel AIPAC lobby before meeting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
"It exposes daylight between Israel and the United States that others in the region could hope to exploit. And it undermines America's unique ability to play a role - an essential role, I might add - in the peace process."
The United States and Israel have clashed since Netanyahu's government this month announced a new expansion of a Jewish settlement in East Jerusalem.
The announcement coincided with a visit by US Vice President Joe Biden - Netanyahu said he was blindsided by disclosure of the project to build 1,600 homes for Jews - and prompted Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to delay the start of indirect, US-mediated peace talks.
Clinton called the announcement "insulting" and demanded that Netanyahu outline specific steps to restore confidence in the peace process - something both sides say he has now done, although neither side has released specifics.
Clinton, in her address to AIPAC, said Israel faced "difficult but necessary choices" on Mideast peace and called Israel's settlement policy a problem.
She later held talks with Netanyahu at his hotel - after plans for a higher-profile meeting at the State Department were cancelled.
Israeli officials called it a conversation between friends in which both Clinton and Netanyahu showed a desire to put the public feud fuelled by the construction project's announcement behind them.
Both Clinton and Netanyahu, the officials said, explored ways to move the peace process forward. But the officials made clear Netanyahu was not budging from his position that Israel had a right to build anywhere in Jerusalem.
Israel captured East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war and considers all of the holy city its capital. The Palestinians want East Jerusalem as the capital of a state they hope to establish in the West Bank and Gaza Stip.
Netanyahu was due to dine with Biden and address AIPAC later on Monday. On Tuesday, after visiting Capitol Hill, where support for Israel is strong, Netanyahu was to meet Obama for a low-key White House meeting, with no public statements expected.
Firm line
The Obama administration's firm line on Israel drew fire from senior Republican members of the House of Representatives, highlighting what could become an emotive issue in this year's US congressional elections.
"Now is not the time to be picking fights with Israel in what seems to be an attempt to curry favor with the Arab world," Eric Cantor, the No. 2 House Republican, said in a speech to AIPAC.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs's list of goals for the Obama-Netanyahu meeting was modest.
"The president is hopeful that we will in this meeting make progress and get - without getting into the intricacies of it - get these two parties not just back physically to talks but to the type of relationship that is necessary for those talks to bear fruit," he said.
The low-profile White House meeting may at least avoid further irking Palestinians at a time when Obama is trying to persuade them to return to indirect talks despite the Israeli leader's position on settlement expansion.
Under US and international pressure, Netanyahu announced a 10-month moratorium on new housing starts in Jewish settlements in November. But he excluded East Jerusalem and nearby annexed areas of the West Bank from the building freeze.
Palestinian officials have continued to insist that Israel' decision to continue settlement building in and around East Jerusalem would prove fatal to the peace process.
Clinton, who last year praised Netanyahu' moratorium announcement, said on Monday the United States still regarded continued Jewish settlements as illegitimate and urged both sides not to take steps to undermine the fragile peace effort.
US envoy George Mitchell urged a period of calm and quiet"
after meeting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the Jordanian
capital Amman. The State Department said Mitchell later left en
route for Washington.
