THE TELEGRAPH: Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, is planning to telephone Benjamin Netanyahu, the Isreali prime minister, in an effort to ease a bitter diplomatic feud.
US officials said the call would be made in the next 24 hours, as the Obama administration awaits Mr Netanyahu's response to its complaints over Israeli settlement policy, which has provoked the deepest US-Israel row in years.
But in a possible sign that it wants to stop the row widening, the administration also said the dispute was a disagreement between friends which would not shatter the "unbreakable bond" between the allies.
Uncertainty over US-Israeli relations unfolded amid rising regional tensions, as hundreds of Palestinians clashed with Israeli security forces in east Jerusalem in the worst rioting in years.
The row erupted when Washington, frustrated over a lack of success for its peace brokering, reacted angrily last week to an Israeli announcement that 1,600 new settler homes would be built in annexed east Jerusalem.
The move came at the moment the United States had convinced the Palestinians to take part in indirect "proximity" talks with the Israelis, and during a visit to Jerusalem by Vice President Joe Biden.
State Department spokesman Philip Crowley told reporters he expected a conversation "very soon" between Mrs Clinton and Mr Netanyahu. >>> | Wednesday, March 17, 2010
