Obama denies Israel crisis, says friends 'disagree sometimes'
Obama denies Israel crisis, says friends 'disagree sometimes'
Thursday, 18, Mar 2010 09:44
By Richard James.
Barack Obama has claimed Israel's decision to build yet more homes in East Jerusalem is unhelpful to plans to reignite but Middle East peace process but does not represent a crisis in US-Israeli relations.
In a heated interview with Bret Baier from Fox News on Wednesday, the US president echoed previous comments by his secretary of state Hillary Clinton but did concede though that there currently existed a "disagreement" on how to move the peace process forward.
"Israel's one of our closest allies, and we and the Israeli people have a special bond that's not going to go away," he said.
"But friends are going to disagree sometimes.
Mr Obama's administration has continually called on Israel to halt all settlement building in the disputed territories, but the country's interior ministry recently announced plans for 1,600 new homes in East Jerusalem sparking violent outbreaks during the last few days.
Yesterday Israel also reopened access to and from the occupied West Bank plus the al-Aqsa mosque compound in East Jerusalem where dozens of people were injured in clashes between security forces and Palestinian demonstrators on Tuesday.
The announcement of the new houses came during a visit by US vice president Joe Biden and Mr Obama admitted the news of the decision had come as a disappointment.
"The actions that were taken by the interior minister in Israel weren't helpful to that process. Prime minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu acknowledged as much and apologised for it," the US president said.
"What we need right now is both sides to recognise that it is in their interests to move this peace process forward."
On Wednesday, Mr Netanyahu moved to distance himself from comments made by his brother-in-law that Mr Obama is an anti-Semite who hates Israel.
"I have a deep appreciation for President Obama's commitment to Israel's security, which he has expressed many times," the prime minister declared.