Israel backs Jerusalem expansion

JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday defended his decision to expand construction in east Jerusalem, saying it was Israel’s “right” and “duty” to build in all parts of its capital.

Late Tuesday, Netanyahu’s office said 2,000 new apartments would be built in Jewish areas of east Jerusalem. Officials said the move was an Israeli response to recent unilateral steps by the Palestinians, particularly their acceptance in the U.N. cultural agency UNESCO.

Israel captured east Jerusalem along with the West Bank from Jordan in the 1967 Mideast war. Israel subsequently annexed east Jerusalem, home to sensitive Jewish, Muslim and Christian holy sites, in a move that has not been internationally recognized. Palestinians claim that section of the city as their future capital.

Speaking at a special parliamentary session, Netanyahu pledged to keep building in Jerusalem and said the city has never been a capital to any other people.

“We are building in Jerusalem because it is our right and our duty to this generation and future generations, not as punishment but as the basic right of our people to build in its eternal city,” he said. “Jerusalem will never return to the state it was in on the eve of the [1967] Six-Day War, that I promise you.”

The projects announced by Netanyahu were not new, but he ordered they be accelerated. Such projects normally take years to complete because of planning and permit procedures and it was not clear how soon they would begin.

Netanyahu stressed that all building would take place in areas that are set to stay part of Israel under any future peace accord.

The Palestinians demand an end to all construction in Israeli settlements before peace talks can resume. Israel rejects that as a precondition, insisting that the issue of settlements will be resolved when borders are defined through negotiations.

At an academic conference at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv, Israeli opposition leader Tzipi Livni slammed the announcement, saying that Israel should keep certain settlement blocs - but in the framework of a negotiated peace accord.

“The idea that now we have to build more in order to punish the Palestinians is something that I cannot understand,” she said.

In Washington, White House spokesman Jay Carney said the Obama administration was “deeply disappointed.”

“Unilateral actions work against efforts to resume direct negotiations, and they do not advance the goal of a reasonable and necessary agreement between the two parties,” Carney. “And that is the only way to achieve the two-state solution that both sides have as their goal. So any action ... that either side takes that makes it harder - rather than easier - for the two parties to come together in direct negotiations is something that we oppose.”

State Department spokesman Victoria Nuland told reporters that the U.S. will “continue to make our opposition to this clear to the government of Israel.” She also criticized a separate Israeli decision to temporarily suspend the transfer of millions of dollars in Palestinian tax revenue that it collects on behalf of the Palestinian Authority.

In other developments, The head of UNESCO is pleading with the U.S. to reinstate funding cut off after the Palestinians were granted membership.

Director-General Irina Bokova warned in a statement Wednesday that the move jeopardizes programs “in America’s core interests,” such as those fostering media freedom in nascent Mideast democracies.

The United States typically funds about 20 percent of the agency’s budget, but American law bars contributions to organizations that grant membership to territories that are not internationally recognized as states.

ACTIVISTS SAIL FOR GAZA

Meanwhile, pro-Palestinian activists said two boats set sail Wednesday from Turkey for Gaza in another attempt to breach Israel’s naval blockade.

Amjad Shawwa, a spokesman for the activists in Gaza, said 27 people from nine countries are aboard the ships carrying medicine for Gaza.

Activists said the vessels could reach Gaza in 48 hours.

Military spokesman Lt. Col. Avital Leibovich said the military knew about the boats and the navy is prepared to intercept them.

She said the activists were “more than welcome” to send aid to Gaza by land.

STRIKE ON IRAN

In another development, an Israeli official said Wednesday that Netanyahu is trying to persuade his Cabinet to authorize a military strike against Iran’s suspected nuclear weapons program - a discussion that comes as Israel successfully tests a missile believed capable of carrying a nuclear warhead to Iran.

It remained unclear whether Israel was genuinely poised to strike or if it was saber-rattling to prod the international community into taking a tougher line on Iran. Israeli leaders have long hinted at a military option, but they always seemed mindful of the practical difficulties, the likelihood of a furious counterstrike and the risk of regional mayhem.

The developments unfolded as the International Atomic Energy Agency is due to focus on the Iranian program at a meeting later this month. The West wants to set a deadline for Iran to start cooperating with an agency probe of suspicions that Tehran is secretly experimenting with components ofa weapons program.

Israeli leaders have said they favor a diplomatic solution, but recent days have seen a spate of Israeli media reports on a possible strike, accompanied by veiled threats from top politicians.

Information for this article was contributed by Aron Heller, Ibrahim Barzak, Ian Deitch, Matthew Lee, Josef Federman, Dan Perry, Amy Teibel and Ian Deitch of The Associated Press.