Palestinian Authority Given $150 Million In Aid, Hillary Clinton Bashes Israel For Building In East Jerusalem

Reuters reports that the United States will give an additional $150 million to the Palestinian Authority. Meanwhile, the AP reports that "Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Wednesday criticized Israel's latest building plans in east Jerusalem, an issue that has divided the two governments and imperiled efforts to revive Middle East peace talks. Clinton called the proposed construction of 1,300 apartments 'counterproductive' and an obstacle to restarting peace talks with the Palestinians." As Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has said, "Jerusalem is not a settlement." This comes after Obama decided to take cheap shots at Israel for construction in East Jerusalem while in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation that does not allow Israeli citizens to visit.

As the Wall Street Journal wrote in an editorial, "Why Mr. Obama chose to pick this fight from the distance of Southeast Asia is anyone's guess. Israel's decision to proceed with the building of some 1,000 housing units in the Har Homa neighborhood of municipal Jerusalem—a 'settlement' only in the most jaundiced sense of the term—was made in October. Israeli governments of both the right and left have encouraged similar building projects since Jerusalem was reunified in 1967. And construction of the new housing will not begin for months if not years... All Israel has done is insist that Jews have a right to live anywhere in their capital city, something that might be controversial in Ramallah but ought not to be in Washington. Mr. Obama's public endorsement of the Palestinian view of what constitutes a settlement only puts the negotiated peace he seeks further out of reach. Meanwhile, the Indonesian government forbids Israeli citizens from visiting their country. If Mr. Obama wants to bridge the distance between Jakarta and Jerusalem, maybe he can start with that one. " Tweet