Israel defiant in face of US criticism

CommonDreams- Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying Jews have a right to live anywhere in Jerusalem, defended today a settlement project that drew criticism from US secretary of state Hillary Clinton.

[The United States and the Palestinians have slammed Israel's bulldozing of an east Jerusalem hotel to make way for settler homes, saying it undermines Middle East peace efforts. (AFP/Ahmad Gharabli) ]The United States and the Palestinians have slammed Israel's bulldozing of an east Jerusalem hotel to make way for settler homes, saying it undermines Middle East peace efforts. (AFP/Ahmad Gharabli)
Israeli bulldozers cleared the way for 20 new homes for Jews in East Jerusalem, an area captured by Israel in a 1967 war and which Palestinian want as the capital of a future state, by demolishing a derelict hotel yesterday.

Ms Clinton, in Abu Dhabi on a tour of US Gulf Arab allies, called the Israeli action a "disturbing development" and said it "undermines peace efforts to achieve the two-state solution".

A statement issued by Mr Netanyahu's office made no direct reference to Clinton's criticism, but said "there should be no expectation that the State of Israel will impose a ban on Jews purchasing private property in Jerusalem".

The Shepherd Hotel, torn down as part of a project first announced in 2009, was declared "absentee property" by Israel after it captured and annexed East Jerusalem. Israel views all of Jerusalem as its capital, a claim that is not recognised internationally.

The title of the hotel was transferred to an Israeli firm, which sold it in 1985 to Irving Moskowitz, a US-based patron of Jewish settlers. Read more