New Israeli Settlement Plans Draw Swift Condemnation

JERUSALEM - New Israeli plans for settlement construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem as retaliation against the new Palestinian consensus government backed by Hamas have added to tensions between Israel and Washington, and prompted threats on Thursday of countermeasures from Palestinian officials.

The Israeli Housing Ministry published bids late Wednesday for the construction of nearly 1,500 housing units in various settlements in what the housing minister, Uri Ariel, called 'an appropriate Zionist response to the establishment of the Palestinian terror government.' He added in a statement that he believed the marketing of these units 'will be just the beginning.'

Palestinian officials reacted furiously to the announcement. Nabil Abu Rudeineh, the official spokesman for Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, said in a statement Thursday that the Palestinian leadership would 'respond in an unprecedented way' to the Israeli step, without elaborating.

Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator in American-brokered peace talks, said in a statement, 'We believe this latest announcement is a clear sign that Israel is moving towards a major escalation,' adding, 'We are carefully studying and weighing our response.' He called on the world powers 'to hold this Israeli government and its members accountable under international law.'

The move came against the backdrop of a dispute between Israel and the Obama administration over the new Palestinian government, which grew out of a recent reconciliation pact between the Palestine Liberation Organization, led by Mr. Abbas, and Hamas, the Islamic militant group that has controlled Gaza since 2007.

Israel has urged the world to shun the Palestinian government that was sworn in on Monday on the grounds that it rests on the support of Hamas, which is classified as a terrorist organization by Israel, the United States and much of the Western world and which refuses to recognize Israel's right to exist.

But the Palestinian cabinet is made up largely of professionals who are not formally tied to either Mr. Abbas's mainstream Fatah party or to Hamas, and who have declared themselves committed to Mr. Abbas's peaceful program and to international principles like the renunciation of violence and the recognition of Israel.

On that basis, the Obama administration says it will continue to work with the Palestinian government and provide aid to it while continuing to monitor it. The European Union and several other major countries have followed suit.

The new government is supposed to prepare for elections in about six months and is intended to reunite the West Bank and Gaza Strip after a bitter seven-year political schism.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said this week that he was 'deeply troubled' by the American decision to work with the Palestinian government, telling news3blog.blogspot.com that Hamas has murdered 'countless innocent civilians' and 'seeks Israel's liquidation.'

He said 'the United States must make it absolutely clear' to Mr. Abbas that the pact with Hamas 'is simply unacceptable.'

Israeli settlement activity has long been a source of friction between Israel and the United States. The Obama administration has described settlements as 'illegitimate' and American officials have pointed to repeated Israeli announcements over the past few months advancing plans for thousands of housing units as a prime contributing factor to the failure of the American-brokered peace talks. Most countries consider the settlements a violation of international law.

Israel suspended the negotiations in late April a day after the Palestinians announced their reconciliation pact and days before the talks were due to expire.

Dan Shapiro, the American ambassador to Israel, on Thursday defended the administration's decision to continue working with the Palestinian government and criticized the settlement construction plans, addressing the Israeli public in fluent Hebrew in morning interviews with the two main radio stations.

'We are against building in the settlements and announcements regarding building in the settlements,' he told Israel Radio and Army Radio, adding, 'this was our stand with or without the present disagreement over the new Palestinian interim government.'

Mr. Shapiro emphasized that the administration still considered Hamas a terrorist organization and would not have any contacts or dealings with it. Regarding the new Palestinian government, he said the decision to continue working with it was taken after 'a scrupulous examination.'

'This is not a unity government, of sharing rule with Hamas. There are no ministers from Hamas that are members of Hamas. There is no direct Hamas influence that we discern behind the scenes,' Mr. Shapiro said, adding that the administration would continue to work with it 'according to United States law and policy.' United States law bars financing any Palestinian government under 'undue influence by Hamas.'

American willingness to continue working with the Palestinian government is meant, at least in part, to prevent any sharp deterioration in the area that could lead to a collapse of the Palestinian Authority.

The settlement plans also widened fissures in Israel's governing coalition. Tzipi Livni, the justice minister who served as the government's chief negotiator during the recent round of talks with the Palestinians, called the Housing Ministry announcement 'a political mistake,' telling Army Radio on Thursday that it would only harm Israel's 'ability to recruit the world against Hamas.'