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Australia's Foreign Minister said more construction in Jerusalem is not helpful to the peace process. Photo: AJN file

FOREIGN Minister Stephen Smith has criticised Israel’s decision to allow the building of more homes in Ramat Shlomo, an ultra-Orthodox neighbourhood of Jerusalem.

Speaking to <I>Sky News<P> on Thursday, Smith called the decision, made on Tuesday, a “bad” one.

“I share the view that this is a bad decision at the wrong time,” he said. “It’s not a helpful contribution to the peace process. It’s not a helpful contribution to the very hard work that’s been going on behind-the-scenes, including from the United States, to try and get Israel and the Palestinian Authority together for so-called proximity talks.”

Approval for 1600 additional houses in the burgeoning area –  where media reports put the average household at seven or eight people – was given by Israel’s Interior Ministry. It is controversial because the building would be beyond the Green Line, but the Netanyahu Government said it never agreed to halt construction in Jerusalem.

The approval followed closely on the heals of United States Vice President Joe Biden’s express support for new, indirect peace talks during a visit to Israel this week. That support is based on the cessation of settlement building in the Palestinian territories. Read the full story

JERUSALEM - Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas announced he would not run for reelection.

In a live televised speech Thursday evening from his headquarters in Ramallah, Abbas said he would not run in the elections he has called for January.

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RONI SOFER
JERUSALEM - US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will arrive in Israel on Saturday night and meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday in order to further the political process with the Palestinians, Ynet learned on Tuesday.

US special envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell will also be arriving in the Jewish state on Friday to set the ground for Clinton’s visit.

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Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak. Photo: AJN file

ATTILA SOMFALVI

JERUSALEM - After Defense Minister and Labour Party Chairman Ehud Barak on Monday accused the Left of behaving like children during a weekly faction meeting, former Meretz Chairwoman Shulamit Aloni said, “Barak is the most dangerous person in Israel today.”

Speaking with Ynet, Aloni added, “The Left, as a small child, wants peace, and the defence minister, as an experienced big boy wants war, and in this capacity he is doing it and wasting money to that end.

“Anyone that heads the Labour Party and speaks out against the Israeli Left is stating that he wishes to destroy, and in fact has systematically destroyed the Labour Party. Today, Barak is more Right than Bibi (Netanyahu). The Israeli Left exists, but is not organized. A completely different public awakening is needed. I believe Barak is the most dangerous man in Israel today,” she said.

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YITZHAK BENHORIN

WASHINGTON - The White House urged Israel and the Palestinians on Thursday to do more to open the way to renewed peace negotiations as President Barack Obama received a report on the status of US peacemaking efforts.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with President Obama earlier in the day and presented him with her report on the progress in the efforts to resume negotiations in the Middle East, which according to her was scant.
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JERUSALEM - Israel plans to hold direct peace talks with the Palestinians by late September, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu told his Cabinet.

Sunday’s announcement comes on the eve of a scheduled meeting in London between Netanyahu and US Mideast envoy George Mitchell. Netanyahu said that the meeting — in preparation for the resumption of Israeli-Palestinian talks — is being held in a “positive atmosphere with certain progress, though without definitive agreements”.

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RON KAMPEAS

WASHINGTON - Top Jewish organizational leaders expressed support for US President Barack Obama’s Middle East peace strategies at a White House meeting but said the president must do a better job of showing he expects hard work from all sides, not just Israel.
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