Biden condemns new Israel settlement plan

Vice President Joe Biden on Tuesday condemned Israeli plans to build 1,600 more homes on occupied land where Palestinians seek statehood, announced in the middle of his visit to help revive peace negotiations.Israel's refusal to stop settlement building despite US urging has been a major obstacle to a resumption of the talks, and the announcement put Biden in an uncomfortable position ahead of a meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. I condemn the decision by the government of Israel to advance planning for new housing units, Biden said in a statement. He said the blueprint for Ramat Shlomo, a religious Jewish settlement in an area of the West Bank annexed to Jerusalem by Israel, undermines the trust we need right now and runs counter to the constructive discussions that I've had here in Israel. The Palestinians had dropped a demand that Israel freeze settlement building and agreed to up to four months of indirect negotiations after receiving Arab League endorsement last week. Israeli Interior Minister Eli Yishai, who heads a religious party in Netanyahu's governing coalition and is responsible for the plan's announcement, described its timing as happenstance.