Dissension flared anew over the weekend when Netanyahu rejected a US demand to suspend a planned housing project in east Jerusalem.
State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley confirmed yesterday that the project had been a topic of conversation last week during a meeting between senior US diplomats and Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Michael Oren. Crowley said US opposition to construction in East Jerusalem and settlements in the West Bank had not changed.
“We have made our views known to Israel,’’ he told reporters. “Our views are not new either, that this kind of construction is the type . . . of issue that should be subject to permanent-status negotiations.’’
Crowley added: “We are concerned that unilateral actions taken by the Israelis or the Palestinians cannot prejudge the outcome of these negotiations.’’
US officials said that at last week’s meeting, Jacob Lew, the deputy secretary of state for management, told Oren that Washington was troubled by the Jerusalem housing project that calls for construction of 20 apartments developed by a US millionaire. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive diplomatic exchange.
The spat emerged publicly on Sunday when Netanyahu told his Cabinet there would be no limits on Jewish construction anywhere in “unified Jerusalem.’’
