Foxman slams Israel on Jerusalem announcement - by JTA

Foxman slams Israel on Jerusalem announcement - by JTA

Israel's announcement of new housing starts during U.S. Vice President Joe Biden's visit was a "disaster," Abraham Foxman said in a rare rebuke.

"Whatever the motivation and whoever the responsible party, it is the government of Israel that justifiably is held accountable for converting an optimal moment in U.S.-Israel relations into a moment of crisis," Foxman, the Anti-Defamation League's national director, wrote in a post on the liberal Huffington Post Web site. "The crucial point is that the government had an obligation to anticipate what might go wrong during the vice president's visit and to give firm instruction to all cabinet members about avoiding such pitfalls, particularly on the subjects of settlements and East Jerusalem."

"This is the kind of rhetoric that does exactly what Mr. Biden has studiously avoided doing, linking the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to America's larger Middle East challenges, and it unnecessarily calls into question Israel's role as an ally and the impact on American interests," Foxman wrote.