JERUSALEM — On her sixth Middle East trip this year to promote peace efforts, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Sunday ratcheted up her criticism of Israeli settlement building on land that Palestinians want for a future state, saying that it harmed ongoing negotiations.
The sharpening of the American rhetoric followed the latest Israeli announcement of new construction on West Bank land annexed to Jerusalem, work that Palestinian officials say undermines peace talks and prospects for a territorially viable Palestinian state.
It was unclear whether Rice’s language signaled a toughening of U.S. policy toward Israeli settlement expansion that might be backed by diplomatic steps or was a just a stronger reiteration of Washington’s long-standing opposition to settlement building.
“I do believe, and the United States believes, that the actions and the announcements that are taking place are indeed having a negative effect on the atmosphere for negotiation, and that is not what we want,” Rice said after meeting in Ramallah with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
“We should be in a position of encouraging confidence, not undermining it,” Rice said. “No party should be taking steps at this point that could prejudice the outcome of the negotiation.”
The latest building plan pushed the number of settlement homes approved for construction since the renewal of peace talks to more than 3,000, according to published calls for bids and another government announcements.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and other Israeli officials have argued that the new building does not prejudice peace talks because it is in Jerusalem on land Israel considers its sovereign territory, or in large West Bank settlement blocs that Israel wants to keep.
