Ramat Shlomo

Beginning as a spat over a single housing project, a dispute this week between the Obama administration and Israel has ballooned into the biggest U.S.-Israeli clash in 20 years, adding to months of strain between Washington and one of its closest allies. Israel's decision to move ahead with 1,600 new housing units in East Jerusalem, announced during a visit by Vice President Joe Biden, drew criticism from Washington in language rarely directed at even Iran or North Korea. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Israel's announcement "was an insult to the United States."

Israel's Interior Ministry approved plans Thursday for 1,600 new housing units in a development built on annexed land in East Jerusalem, a construction project that angered Obama administration officials when it was announced last year. The move also strains relations with Palestinians as they prepared to seek recognition of statehood at the United Nations next month. Interior Minister Eli Yishai suggested that expanding the Ramat Shlomo project was aimed at alleviating a housing shortage that helped spark a wave of protest in the last month by Israelis seeking social and economic reforms.

Vice President Joe Biden, winding up a disconcerting trip to the Middle East, struggled Thursday to keep hopes alive for new peace talks amid Palestinian anger over Israeli plans for new housing construction in a disputed Jerusalem neighborhood. Despite earlier pledges to take part in talks scheduled to begin next week, Palestinian officials threatened to stay away unless Israel abandons announced plans for a 1,600-unit project in East Jerusalem. Palestinians pressed for the United States to persuade Israel to change its stance on the project.

Setting the stage for another potential clash with the Obama administration, Israel said Monday that it would build an additional 1,300 homes on disputed land in East Jerusalem. The announcement came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was visiting the United States to meet with administration officials in an attempt to revive stalled peace talks with the Palestinians. He met Sunday with Vice President Joe Biden and is scheduled to meet with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, both of whom have urged Netanyahu to restrain from new construction in East Jerusalem and the West Bank in order to draw Palestinians back to the negotiating table.

Reporting from Jerusalem — You come for a hug. You leave with a slap. It happens in the Middle East. Vice President Joe Biden's trip this week was supposed to highlight U.S.-Israeli cooperation to counter a perceived nuclear threat from Iran and kick off U.S.-brokered indirect peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians. Instead, talk about Iran was sidetracked and the outlook for peace may be murkier than it was before. Even here, people are not quite sure how that happened.

Setting the stage for another potential clash with the Obama administration, Israel said Monday that it would build an additional 1,300 homes on disputed land in East Jerusalem. The announcement came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was visiting the United States to meet with administration officials in an attempt to revive stalled peace talks with the Palestinians. He met Sunday with Vice President Joe Biden and is scheduled to meet with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, both of whom have urged Netanyahu to restrain from new construction in East Jerusalem and the West Bank in order to draw Palestinians back to the negotiating table.

In the midst of a high-profile trip by Vice President Joe Biden, Israel unveiled plans for new housing in disputed Jerusalem on Tuesday, a surprise step that embarrassed and angered the highest ranking Obama administration official yet to visit the country. Biden, who had come to try to smooth relations with a longtime ally and promote new peace talks, denounced Israel's plans to build 1,600 housing units in traditionally Arab East Jerusalem as a threat to the search for peace. "I condemn the decision by the government of Israel to advance planning for new housing units in East Jerusalem," Biden said, calling it "precisely the kind of step that undermines the trust we need right now."

Defying U.S. and international calls to restrain home-building on disputed land, Israel said Friday it would construct 238 more homes atop territory in East Jerusalem seized during the 1967 Middle East War. The decision threw U.S.-sponsored peace talks into further doubt and ended a de facto construction freeze in East Jerusalem that had been quietly observed, though never formally declared, since March. Palestinian officials accused Israel of trying to sabotage American efforts to salvage direct peace talks.

A day after trying to ease tensions, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday rejected U.S. demands to end the construction of new housing units in disputed East Jerusalem, leaving the two allies in the middle of an increasingly uncomfortable diplomatic feud. The United States wants Netanyahu to order a halt to the construction and make a gesture to Palestinians that could help lead to peace negotiations. But Netanyahu, arguing that construction of housing units on land occupied by Israel since the 1967 Middle East War poses no harm to Palestinians, showed no signs of acquiescing to U.S. demands.

Another controversial housing project in East Jerusalem has received approval to break ground despite strong U.S. objections, officials said Wednesday. The 20-unit project, funded by U.S. businessman Irving Moskowitz, cleared its chief planning hurdles in July but received the final go-ahead March 18, when the developer paid project fees to the city, officials said. Some speculated that the timing of the fee payment and the subsequent announcement -- which occurred Tuesday as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepared to meet President Obama at the White House -- seemed designed to exploit recent U.S.-Israeli tensions over Jewish expansion in East Jerusalem.

A day after trying to ease tensions, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday rejected U.S. demands to end the construction of new housing units in disputed East Jerusalem, leaving the two allies in the middle of an increasingly uncomfortable diplomatic feud. The United States wants Netanyahu to order a halt to the construction and make a gesture to Palestinians that could help lead to peace negotiations. But Netanyahu, arguing that construction of housing units on land occupied by Israel since the 1967 Middle East War poses no harm to Palestinians, showed no signs of acquiescing to U.S. demands.

Beginning as a spat over a single housing project, a dispute this week between the Obama administration and Israel has ballooned into the biggest U.S.-Israeli clash in 20 years, adding to months of strain between Washington and one of its closest allies. Israel's decision to move ahead with 1,600 new housing units in East Jerusalem, announced during a visit by Vice President Joe Biden, drew criticism from Washington in language rarely directed at even Iran or North Korea. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Israel's announcement "was an insult to the United States."

Reporting from Jerusalem — You come for a hug. You leave with a slap. It happens in the Middle East. Vice President Joe Biden's trip this week was supposed to highlight U.S.-Israeli cooperation to counter a perceived nuclear threat from Iran and kick off U.S.-brokered indirect peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians. Instead, talk about Iran was sidetracked and the outlook for peace may be murkier than it was before. Even here, people are not quite sure how that happened.

Vice President Joe Biden, winding up a disconcerting trip to the Middle East, struggled Thursday to keep hopes alive for new peace talks amid Palestinian anger over Israeli plans for new housing construction in a disputed Jerusalem neighborhood. Despite earlier pledges to take part in talks scheduled to begin next week, Palestinian officials threatened to stay away unless Israel abandons announced plans for a 1,600-unit project in East Jerusalem. Palestinians pressed for the United States to persuade Israel to change its stance on the project.

In the midst of a high-profile trip by Vice President Joe Biden, Israel unveiled plans for new housing in disputed Jerusalem on Tuesday, a surprise step that embarrassed and angered the highest ranking Obama administration official yet to visit the country. Biden, who had come to try to smooth relations with a longtime ally and promote new peace talks, denounced Israel's plans to build 1,600 housing units in traditionally Arab East Jerusalem as a threat to the search for peace. "I condemn the decision by the government of Israel to advance planning for new housing units in East Jerusalem," Biden said, calling it "precisely the kind of step that undermines the trust we need right now."

The Obama administration said Thursday that its Middle East peace envoy is headed to the region this weekend to resume consultations, a visit that had been postponed earlier in the week over a diplomatic dispute with Israel. The news of the trip by envoy George J. Mitchell indicated possible progress in talks between U.S. and Israeli officials after a conflict over Israel's announcement last week of a new housing project in disputed East Jerusalem as Vice President Joe Biden was visiting the country to promote peace talks with Palestinians.