Washington, March 24: Talks between Barack Obama and Benjamin Netanyahu failed to produce signs of an end to a dispute over illegal Jewish settlements in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories that the Israeli premier said could stall the Middle East peace process for a year.
While the Netanyahu’s office said the two rounds of talks had unfolded in a “good atmosphere”, the leaders unusually did not appear before the cameras while the White House stayed silent about the meetings.
The US president initially hosted Netanyahu at the White House late Tuesday for 90 minutes. Netanyahu then huddled privately with his staff for more than an hour, after which he met a second time with the president in the Oval Office for a further 35 minutes, officials said.
Netanyahu’s office said in a statement that advisors to both men were holding follow-up discussions that would continue throughout the day.
But it gave no details, and White House officials refused to describe the tone or the substance of the talks — or to say if any agreements had been proposed or reached.
Earlier in the day, Netanyahu took a hard line on US demands for a freeze in settlement construction, warning that a halt to new illegal settlements in Israeli-occupied Palestinian East Jerusalem could wind up putting Israel-Palestinian talks on ice.
“If the Americans support the unreasonable demands made by the Palestinians regarding a freeze on settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, the peace process risks being blocked for a year,” Netanyahu said.
“Relations between Israel and the United States should not be hostage to differences between the two countries over the peace process with the Palestinians,” he was quoted as saying by Israeli media.
Netanyahu was in Washington as the United States is seeking more UN sanctions against Iran over its nuclear programme, as Israel sees that efforts to that end are moving too slowly.
His trip also coincided with Britain ordering the expulsion of an Israeli diplomat over the “intolerable” use of fake British passports in the murder of a Hamas operative in Dubai two months ago.
As Tuesday’s White House meeting went ahead, it emerged in Israel that local officials had given final approval for the building of 20 illegal units for Jewish settlers at the site of a former Palestinian hotel in East Jerusalem.
Officials approved the project by US millionaire Irving Moskowitz to build luxury apartments at the site of the former Hotel Shepherd in occupied East Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarrah quarter, Israeli public radio and the Ynet news website reported.
The Peace Now anti-settlement movement denounced the approval of the 20 new illegal units.
“The Jerusalem authorities are leading an independent policy which has disastrous consequences on the chances of reaching an agreement with the Palestinians,” said Hagit Ofran, one of the group’s directors.
Deepening the sense of crisis, the Palestinians on Tuesday warned that Netanyahu’s position threatens to destroy hopes for serious peace talks.
“What Netanyahu said does not help American efforts and will not serve the efforts of the American administration to return the two sides to indirect negotiations,” Palestinian Authority spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina said.
Netanyahu has shown no signs of caving in to US demands to halt expanding illegal Jewish settlements in the Palestinian territories, under occupation since 1967.
International law considers all Jewish settlements to be illegal because they are built on Arab (mainly Palestinian) land, as it is also inadmissible to acquire territory by war.
—Agencies