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Netanyahu Halts Some Settlement Plans, but Others to Proceed Israeli Move Over Housing Poses a Threat To Peace Talks
(about 5 hours later)
JERUSALEM — With relations between Israel and the United States in distress over deep disagreements on Iranian nuclear negotiations and construction in West Bank settlements, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday froze plans for building in a particularly contentious area outside Jerusalem known as E1. JERUSALEM — The troubled Middle East peace talks that started this summer threatened to collapse on Tuesday over what the Israeli government described as a routine bureaucratic move by its housing ministry to start long-term planning for 20,000 new apartments in West Bank settlements.
But Israel’s housing ministry nonetheless approved spending nearly $13 million on initial planning for about 20,000 new units in West Bank territory seized by Israel in 1967, which Palestinian leaders and left-wing Israelis condemned as a sign that Mr. Netanyahu was not serious about the peace talks that started this summer. Saeb Erekat, the lead Palestinian negotiator, said in an interview that he had informed American, European, Russian and Arab diplomats on Tuesday evening that if Israel did not withdraw the call for new housing plans, “we will consider it a declaration of the termination of negotiations.”
A senior official in the prime minister’s office, speaking on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly, said Mr. Netanyahu had halted construction plans in E1, a vast, hilly expanse between East Jerusalem and a large Israeli settlement called Maale Adumim, so as not to exacerbate tensions with Washington and the West. “This is not going to be tolerated,” Mr. Erekat said. “Either they revoke this order or they will be held responsible for the end of the peace process.”
A year ago, Israel prompted an international uproar by declaring its intention to build there a day after the United Nations voted to upgrade the Palestinians’ status to an observer state. Palestinians contend that construction in E1, short for East 1, would disrupt the contiguity of their future state. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel released a statement near midnight saying he had instructed the housing minister to reconsider the plans, noting that they had not been coordinated with his office. Earlier, Mr. Netanyahu froze construction plans related to a particularly contentious area outside Jerusalem known as E1 for fear of exacerbating tensions with the United States, which had escalated in recent days because of deep disagreements about both settlement construction and negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program.
“At this moment, when we want the focus of the international community on Iran, it just doesn’t make sense to point people’s attention to an issue which ultimately has no real significance,” the Israeli official said Tuesday. As to the broader plans approved by the housing ministry, the official played them down as part of a “yearly bureaucratic process” outlining “long-term goals,” and emphasized, “This is not construction — construction requires separate decisions.” The tempest erupted after days of unusually harsh public statements by Mr. Netanyahu and Secretary of State John Kerry, and revealed the internal political challenges Mr. Netanyahu faces in trying to control members of his own government, including the housing minister, who oppose the establishment of a Palestinian state.
The calibrated move came days after Secretary of State John Kerry criticized in harsher terms than usual Israel’s continued construction in West Bank settlements, contributing to a crisis of confidence between Washington and Jerusalem centered on the diplomatic initiative with Iran. “This is a meaningless step — legally and in practice — and an action that creates an unnecessary confrontation with the international community, at a time when we are making an effort to persuade elements in the international community to reach a better deal with Iran,” Mr. Netanyahu said in the late-night statement. “At this time, the attention of the international community must not be diverted from the main effort: preventing Iran from receiving an agreement that will allow it to continue its military nuclear program.”
Mr. Netanyahu has relentlessly criticized an interim deal being proposed in which Iran would freeze much of its nuclear program in exchange for an easing of some economic sanctions. “There is no need to rush into a bad deal,” he reiterated on Tuesday. It is unclear whether the review of the settlement plans, which the housing minister agreed to, would satisfy the Palestinians, who scheduled an emergency leadership meeting for Wednesday and were considering taking the matter to the United Nations Security Council or the International Criminal Court. A second Palestinian negotiator, Muhammad Shtayyeh, submitted his resignation from the peace talks on Tuesday.
During a visit here last week, Mr. Kerry called settlements “illegitimate” and said in a joint television interview with Israeli and Palestinian journalists, “The entire peace process would in fact be easier if the settlements were not taking place.” Mr. Erekat had earlier dismissed as “not serious” the insistence by the prime minister’s office that the housing announcement was only an expression of long-term goals, not a decision to actually build. “This chain of lies must stop,” he said. “This is a government of the settlers, by the settlers and for the settlers.”
“Let me ask you something: How, if you say you’re working for peace and you want peace and a Palestine that is a whole Palestine that belongs to the people who live there, how can you say we’re planning to build in the place that will eventually be Palestine?” Mr. Kerry said in the interview, causing much consternation among Israeli commentators. American officials were working with both sides to contain the crisis. Before Mr. Netanyahu’s order to reconsider the move, a White House spokeswoman said the Obama administration was “deeply concerned” about it, adding, “We do not consider settlement planning, even in its early stages, to be a step that creates a positive environment for the negotiations.”
“It sends a message that somehow, perhaps, you’re not really serious,” he added. “If you announce planning, I believe it is disruptive to the process.” During a visit here last week aimed at regaining momentum in the stalled talks, Mr. Kerry had criticized Israel’s continued construction in the settlements.
Bernadette Meehan, a White House spokeswoman, said Tuesday that the Obama administration was “deeply concerned” about the planning moves, and that it was “seeking further explanation” from the Israeli government. “We have called on both sides to take steps to create a positive atmosphere for the negotiations,” she said in a statement. “We do not consider settlement planning, even in its early stages, to be a step that creates a positive environment for the negotiations.” “If you say you’re working for peace and you want peace and a Palestine that is a whole Palestine that belongs to the people who live there, how can you say, ‘We’re planning to build in the place that will eventually be Palestine’? ” Mr. Kerry said in a joint television interview with Israeli and Palestinian journalists. “It sends a message that somehow, perhaps, you’re not really serious. If you announce planning, I believe it is disruptive to the process.”
Israeli and Palestinian critics said Tuesday’s decision, to hire architects and urban planners for numerous projects that would expand various West Bank settlements, was a sign that the peace process itself was doomed. Relations between the United States and Israel have only deteriorated since, with Mr. Netanyahu relentlessly criticizing the interim deal Mr. Kerry had been trying to broker in which Iran would freeze much of its nuclear program in exchange for an easing of some economic sanctions. “There is no need to rush into a bad deal,” the prime minister reiterated on Tuesday.
“They’re telling the Palestinians there’s no reason to talk, but we want the charade of talks while we continue to steal your land and build more settlements,” said Hanan Ashrawi, a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s executive committee. “Netanyahu tries to pay lip service, but he’s telling the Palestinians, and he’s telling the rest of the world, he’s telling John Kerry and the Americans, ‘We act unilaterally, we impose our will.’ There’s nothing left to talk about, really.” Mr. Netanyahu’s halting of the construction planning process in E1 — a vast, hilly expanse between East Jerusalem and the West Bank settlement of Maale Adumim — was a sign that he was trying to cool the temperatures. Palestinians contend that construction in E1, short for East 1, would disrupt the contiguity of their future state. A year ago, Israel prompted an international uproar by declaring its intention to build there a day after the United Nations voted to upgrade the Palestinians’ status to an observer state.
Yariv Oppenheimer, director of Peace Now, which opposes Jewish settlement in the occupied Palestinian territories, said there had not been such a large push forward on settlement construction in one swoop in decades. Despite Mr. Netanyahu’s hesitance on E1, Mr. Oppenheimer said, the broader plan indicates that he is using the peace talks as “a very good alibi” while working to “destroy” the two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, “to make it impossible.” Yariv Oppenheimer, director of Peace Now, which opposes Jewish settlement in the occupied Palestinian territories, said E1 was “very sensitive for Americans, but all the other places are not less controversial.”
“E1 is just maybe the symbol of the disagreements between America and Israel,” Mr. Oppenheimer said. “This is very sensitive for Americans, but all the other places are not less controversial. There are enough places there that are so controversial, it’s enough for a daily crisis for a year.” Ariel Rosenberg, a spokesman for the Housing Ministry, said earlier in the day, before Mr. Netanyahu’s admonition to reconsider the construction plans, that Israel would build “all over the country.”
A spokesman for the housing ministry, which is run by a right-wing, pro-settlement politician who opposes the establishment of a Palestinian state, said in a statement that the planning was in “the most initial phase” and that it could be years before the settlements were actually built. Still, he said Israel would build “all over the country.” Separately, Avigdor Lieberman, reinstated as Israel’s foreign minister after an acquittal on fraud charges, expressed concern on Tuesday about the disconnect between Israel and the United States. His comments seemed like a rebuke to Mr. Netanyahu, and surprising given his history of speaking bluntly and his own hawkish views on both Iran and the Palestinian issue.
“There are Israeli elements who do not acknowledge the outcome of Israeli elections and the Israeli democracy, which has formed the government’s makeup and policy less than a year ago,” said the spokesman, Ariel Rosenberg. “Transferring the argument overseas is a foolish thing to do, is a harsh blow to democracy, and is destined to fail.” “We need to understand that relations with the U.S. are foundations set in stone — without them we can’t maneuver in the contemporary world,” Mr. Lieberman told the diplomatic corps at the Foreign Ministry headquarters, according to an Israeli news site. “All these differences of opinion, which are natural and have always existed, should simply not be aired as publicly as they were.”
Earlier on Tuesday, Avigdor Lieberman, having been reinstated as Israel’s foreign minister after an acquittal on fraud charges, expressed concern about the disconnect between Washington and Jerusalem that has been on public display in recent days.

Michael D. Shear contributed reporting from Washington, and Isabel Kershner from Jerusalem.

His comments were a rebuke to Mr. Netanyahu,f and something of a surprise given his history of speaking bluntly and his own hawkish views on both Iran and the Palestinian question.
“We need to understand that relations with the U.S. are foundations set in stone — without them we can’t maneuver in the contemporary world,” Mr. Lieberman told the diplomatic corps at the foreign ministry headquarters, according to an Israeli news site. “All these differences of opinion, which are natural and have always existed, should simply not be aired as publicly as they were.”

Michael D. Shear contributed reporting from Washington.