White House spokesman Josh Earnest read out a condemnation of Israel’s latest plans for construction in East Jerusalem, just hours after President Barack Obama had received a visit from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday.
The new construction, which was reportedly decided upon two weeks ago, made news because an anti-settlement activist group chose to push the story to media outlets ahead of the meeting.
Though the meeting between Netanyahu and Obama had appeared cordial, in contrast to some of the earlier meetings between the two, Earnest used strong language to protest Israel’s planning decision, warning that it was a threat to the peace process and that it could alienate “even its closest allies.”
In 2010, a similar row over housing contraction saw then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton berate Netanyahu by telephone for 45 minutes.
Photo: File
Senior Editor-at-Large Joel B. Pollak edits Breitbart California and is the author of the forthcoming ebook, Wacko Birds: The Fall (and Rise) of the Tea Party, available for Amazon Kindle.
Follow Joel on Twitter: @joelpollak
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