'Deeply disappointed' over Israeli settlement decision: US

Washington: The United States said it was “deeply disappointed” that Israel decided to speed up settlement building after UNESCO decided to admit the Palestinians, boosting their statehood drive. It also signalled opposition to Israel’s decision to freeze the transfer of Palestinian tax funds, after the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization admitted the Palestinians as a full member. [caption id=“attachment_122012” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“The United States said it was “deeply disappointed” that Israel decided to speed up settlement building. Reuters”]  [/caption] “We are deeply disappointed by yesterday’s announcement about accelerated housing construction in Jerusalem and the West Bank,” White House spokesman Jay Carney said yesterday. “As we have said before, unilateral actions work against efforts to resume direction negotiations and they do not advance the goal of a reasonable and necessary agreement between the parties. “That’s the only way to achieve the two-state solution that both sides have as their goal, with the Palestinians having their own sovereign state and the Israelis having the security that they so deeply deserve,” Carney said. “So any action, as we have said all along, that either side takes that makes it harder rather than easier for the two parties to come together in direct negotiations is something that we oppose.” A day after the UNESCO vote, Israel’s inner cabinet decided on Tuesday to speed up construction of Jewish settlements in annexed Arab east Jerusalem and elsewhere in the occupied West Bank. It also decided to freeze the transfer of Palestinian tax funds. US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland echoed the White House’s deep disappointment over the decision to speed up settlement building and signalled opposition to the the freeze on funds transfers. Reuters