Israeli officials are working to contain the diplomatic fallout from the government’s announcement to advance plans for the construction of 3,000 new housing units in areas immediately east of Jerusalem. The Israeli plan was unveiled in the aftermath of the Palestinians seeking and securing non-member statehood status in the United Nations, a campaign that violated decades of Palestinian assurances, given in exchange for functionally irreversible Israeli territorial concessions, not to change the status of the West Bank outside of bilateral negotiations with Israel. Some European countries including France voted yes on the statehood resolution, while others including Britain and Germany abstained. The proposed construction is also limited to areas which would remain under Israeli control even in a final status agreement as envisioned by the 2000 Clinton parameters. The chronology of recent diplomatic events and the limited location of the construction have raised suggestions that the outrage is being generated as a pretext to justify Palestinian intransigence. TIP’s backgrounder on the topic is here.

[Photo: IsraeliPM / YouTube]