13/05/2010 After about a year and a half in office, the US President seems unable to achieve any of his promises since the Israeli lobby is working hard to undermine the “Barack Hussein Obama’s” efforts concerning his adopted foreign policy.
The United States warned Israel and the Palestinians of taking inciting steps in occupied Jerusalem, following Israeli Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch's statement on Wednesday that Israel will demolish Palestinian homes in occupied East Jerusalem.
"We call on both sides to avoid inflammatory actions in Jerusalem," a U.S. State Department representative said on Wednesday.
"As we have said, if either side takes significant actions during the proximity talks that we judge would seriously undermine trust, we will respond to hold them accountable and ensure that negotiations continue."
Earlier on Wednesday, Aharonovitch said that Israel will demolish Palestinian homes in occupied East Jerusalem in the coming days despite the renewal of indirect peace talks.
The State Department further emphasized the U.S. stance on occupied Jerusalem and expressed faith in the success of the indirect negotiations between the Palestinians and Israel.
"Our policy on Jerusalem remains unchanged. The status of Jerusalem is an issue that should be resolved in permanent status negotiations between the parties. This underlines the importance of making progress in the proximity talks to enable the parties to move to direct negotiations that will resolve this and other issues once and for all," said the U.S. official.
Aharonovitch made his remarks at Wednesday's Knesset plenum session, during which he said that demolitions had been postponed in recent months so as not to harm efforts by U.S. special envoy George Mitchell to get peace talks off the ground.
Aharonovitch, however, clarified that currently there is no order in effect instructing Israeli occupation police to not to raze homes.
"As of right now, there is no directive for police not to implement the demolition orders," said Aharonovitch, adding that Israeli Police are prepared to deploy the forces necessary for the demolitions.
The minister also said that the demolitions were postponed because some in Israel's political echelons felt the timing was wrong. "If there was a postponement, it has now ended," he said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday said Israel plans to prioritize occupied Jerusalem over other areas, during a special Knesset session marking so-called “Jerusalem Day”.
Construction in occupied Jerusalem has been a major sticking point between Israel and the U.S. since Israel infuriated Washington in March by announcing a major new occupied Jerusalem housing development during a visit by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden.
Washington has been pressuring Tel Aviv to freeze the settlement construction in order to push the talks with the Palestinians, however, Israel insisted on its ongoing defiant policy concerning this issue, confirming that the occupied city is “Israel’s undivided capital”.
River to Sea
Uprooted Palestinian
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