Rift Exposes Split in Views on Mideast

By ETHAN BRONNER
NYT

JERUSALEM — When Israel announced new housing units for Jews in East Jerusalem at the start of a visit this month by Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu apologized for the timing and expressed regret at the embarrassment. Mr. Biden accepted his explanation, and the two sides seemed prepared to move on.

Since then, though, that event has remained lodged at the center of American-Israeli relations. How it got there, and why it remains, sheds light on the growing divide between the Obama administration and the Netanyahu government. The current discord, ostensibly over Jerusalem housing, is really over the role of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as well as over differing perceptions of the Palestinians’ capacity for self-rule.

While Mr. Biden seemed satisfied with the Israeli explanation, others were clearly not. Among them was Amr Moussa, the secretary general of the Arab League. A week earlier, he reluctantly announced his organization’s approval of indirect peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians. Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, had requested the support, feeling unable to renew talks without pan-Arab cover. Arab foreign ministers in Cairo offered a tepid go-ahead despite their skepticism about Israel’s intentions.

After the plans for more Jerusalem housing were announced, however, Mr. Moussa called Mr. Abbas to say the talks should not proceed. Mr. Abbas called Washington to describe his predicament, which produced a phone call from Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to Mr. Netanyahu, demanding steps to keep the indirect talks alive. The sequence of calls was described by an American advocate for Israel and confirmed by a senior Palestinian leader.

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