AlterPolitics

The Huffington Post is reporting that, in clear violation of both U.S. demands and international law:

The Jerusalem city government moved toward the construction of 900 additional housing units in a Jewish neighborhood in East Jerusalem, which Palestinians claim for the capital of their future state.

This comes right after the Obama Administration recently softened its demands that Israel cease all settlement expansion in the occupied territories after Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu essentially told Obama to ‘fuck off’.  Palestinians interpreted this sudden shift in U.S. policy as proof that peace negotiations were dead.

When asked about Israel’s additional 900 housing units, Obama Spokesman Robert Gibbs responded:

“We are dismayed,” and he criticized the Israelis as making “it more difficult for our efforts (toward peacemaking) to succeed.”

Dismayed?  More difficult for your efforts?   Robert, you guys are beginning to look like Netanyahu’s lap dogs.  Show some spine, already!  Americans don’t like to see their leaders getting their noses rubbed in fecal matter, to then try and spin the residue, “it’s just chocolate.  Yum!”  It’s not gonna fly… you look weak and are embarrassing our country!

Members of the press corps aren’t backing down this time.  They are pressing the State Department on their embarrassing failure to get Israel to cooperate on ending the settlement expansions, and on the Administration’s weak response to this latest news of Israeli intransigence.  As transcribed from Mondoweiss:

QUESTION: How long is the U.S. going to continue to tolerate Israel’s violation of international law? I mean, soon it’s not even going to be possible – there’s not going to be any land left for the Palestinians to establish an independent state.

MR. KELLY: Well, again, this is a – we understand the Israeli point of view about Jerusalem. But we think that all sides right now, at this time when we’re expending such intense efforts to try and get the two sides to sit down, that we should refrain from these actions, like this decision to move forward on an approval process for more housing units in East Jerusalem.

QUESTION: But should U.S. inaction, or in response to Israel’s actions, then be interpreted as some sort of about-face in policy – the President turning his back on the promises he’s made to the Palestinians?

MR. KELLY: You’re – okay, you’re using language that I wouldn’t use. I mean, again, our focus is to get these negotiations started. We’re calling on both parties to refrain from actions, from – and from rhetoric that would impede this process. It’s a challenging time, and we just need to focus on what’s important here, and that’s –

The back and forth between Kelly and the reporters at the State Department continues here, at Mondoweiss. You gotta check it out.  He’s got the video clip over there as well.  This will absolutely get buried by the main stream media.