Obama gives Israel carte blanche on settlement construction

It was both these things. But it also confirmed the degree to which the Obama administration is prepared to back Netanyahu’s settlement construction programme on the West Bank and East Jerusalem and to dictate terms to the Palestinians.

The weeks leading up to the tripartite meeting were dominated by Israeli announcements of a massive programme of housing construction involving 3,500 units on the West Bank and in East Jerusalem, contravening the official US position for a settlement freeze.

But after repeated official statements of opposition and diplomatic visits by Middle East Envoy George Mitchell, Obama unceremoniously dumped the demand for a freeze.

Assembling an hour late following separate discussions with Netanyahu and Abbas, Obama spoke alone before engineering an awkward handshake for the cameras. Obama did his best to give an appearance of strength. There must be a “sense of urgency,” he said. “Simply put, it is past time to talk about starting negotiations. It is time to move forward.”

But this was window dressing for his statement praising Netanyahu for having “discussed important steps to restrain settlement activity.” This, not a freeze, was now the basis for future negotiations. Mitchell would meet next week in Washington with teams sent by Netanyahu and Abbas, Obama said, after which Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would report back to him by mid-October.

Read More