JERUSALEM -- A U.S. envoy's postponement of his Mideast trip appeared Tuesday to deepen one of the worst U.S.-Israeli feuds in memory -- even as Israel's foreign minister signaled his government had no intention of curtailing the contentious construction at the heart of the row.
Dozens of masked Palestinians also hurled rocks at police and set tires ablaze across the holy city's volatile eastern sector, as the deployment of thousands of Israeli security personnel entered its fifth day.
The diplomatic crisis erupted last week after Israel announced during a visit by Vice President Joe Biden that it would build 1,600 apartments for Jews in disputed east Jerusalem, the sector of the holy city that the Palestinians claim for a future capital.
The announcement enraged Palestinians, who have threatened to bow out of U.S.-brokered peace talks that were supposed to have begun in the coming days. The Obama administration, fuming over what it called the "insulting" Israeli conduct, demanded that Israel call off the contentious project.
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman told Israel Radio that demands to halt Israeli construction there "are unreasonable as far as we are concerned." And he predicted that the diplomatic row with the U.S. would blow over, saying neither side had an interest in escalation.
But Washington notified Israel early Tuesday that envoy George Mitchell had put off his trip. The visit will be rescheduled at an undetermined time, officials on both sides said. - Politico Story
In a time when we have issues with Iran and North Korea, Terrorists threats from around the globe, Obama decides on Israel to play hardball.
It is ironic that a country that Joe Biden said couldn't have a better friend in the White House than Obama is the country that they decide to play hardball with. Iran continues to make nuclear weapons and the Obama Administration doesn't ratchet things up like this.
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