JAKARTA: US President Barack Obama led world powers on Tuesday in criticizing Israel's decision to build 1,300 settler homes in East Jerusalem, warning it risks wrecking an already fragile peace process with the Palestinians. “This kind of activity is never helpful when it comes to peace negotiations,” Obama said during a visit to Indonesia. “I'm concerned that we're not seeing each side make the extra effort to get a breakthrough that could finally create a framework for a secure Israel living side-by-side in peace with a sovereign Palestine,” he said. The foreign ministry in Russia, a member of the Middle East peace Quartet along with the United States, UN and European Union, said: “Moscow treats this decision with the most serious concern.” British Foreign Secretary William Hague said the Israeli announcement of the East Jerusalem plan was “extremely disappointing and unhelpful.” Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat on Tuesday called on the international community to move toward recognition of a Palestinian state in response to the Israeli defiance. And Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, the chief of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, urged the international community “to oblige Israel to put an end to all forms of settlement building that damages the inalienable rights of the Palestinians.” – Agence France
