shame on you. Fool me 1,354 times, I am complicit."WASHINGTON For President Obama, the news on Friday that Israelis planning to construct Jewish settlements in a geographically sensitive area east of Jerusalem came as a rude shock." NYTimes"... A senior diplomatic source told Haaretz that Netanyahu ordered 3,000 new housing units in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. According to the source, Israel also plans to advance long-frozen plans for the E1 area, which covers an area that links the city of Jerusalem with the settlement of Ma'aleh Adumim. If built, the controversial plan would prevent territorial contiguity between the northern and southern West Bank, making it difficult for a future Palestinian state to function." HaaretzJust to clarify: "The Approval of 3,000 new housing units in Jerusalem and the West Bank was a slap in the face for US President Barack Obama, former prime minister Ehud Olmert said Saturday at the Saban Forum in Washington."During a conversation hosted by David Ignatius of The Washington Post, Olmert stated that the construction was the worst move Israel could make: 'This is the worst slap in the face of a US president.'" Jerusalem Post

Margaret O’Brien Steinfels is a former editor of Commonweal. 

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