“Insulted” by Israel, US scrambles to save talks

*US diplomats see “dicey” days ahead to save talks

*Abbas wants halt to settlements

US: Israel’s relationship with the United States, a defining feature of the troubled Middle East, was under severe strain as diplomats scrambled on Saturday to save newborn US-brokered peace talks with the Palestinians.

A senior US official predicted “a dicey period here in the next couple days to a couple of weeks” as Palestinians demanded the reversal of a new Israeli settlement plan and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition, which includes pro-settler parties, reacts to unusually blunt criticism from Washington.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called Israel’s behaviour “insulting” after it approved 1,600 new homes last week at a settlement in the Jerusalem area on the very day Vice President Joe Biden was there to set a seal on relaunched negotiations.

An Israeli official, who declined to be identified, told Reuters that Netanyahu was “conducting consultations with senior cabinet colleagues.” He declined to give further details.

Asked what would be Netanyahu’s next move to try to restore Israel’s relationship with its main ally, the Israeli official said: “We’ll know only once the consultations are over.”

Clinton accepted that Netanyahu was taken by surprise by the settlement housing approval granted on Tuesday by his interior ministry, which is run by the pro-settler religious Shas party, but she said the prime minister was still responsible for it.

Her spokesman said she told him it was a “deeply negative signal about Israel’s approach to the bilateral relationship ... and had undermined trust and confidence in the peace process”.

In Washington, the Anti-Defamation League, which lobbies for Israel with US lawmakers, called Clinton’s remarks on the diplomatic debacle a “gross over-reaction”.

Jerusalem, Sunday, Reuters