THE TELEGRAPH: Hillary Clinton has warned Israel that it was creating a gulf in its relationship with the United States, escalating a row over plans to expand a Jewish settlement in East Jerusalem.
Delivering an unexpectedly robust address to America's most powerful pro-Israel lobby, the US secretary of state sent a strong signal that the Obama administration would not back down in its two-week stand-off with Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister.
Speaking as Mr Netanyahu arrived in Washington for high-level talks, Mrs Clinton cautioned that Israel's refusal to halt construction in the territories it occupied after the 1967 Six-Day [War] was emboldening its enemies.
She also hinted for the first time that the United States could reduce its role in the Middle East peace process if Mr Netanyahu did not bow to demands that he reverse a controversial housing project in predominantly Arab East Jerusalem.
"New construction in East Jerusalem or the West Bank undermines mutual trust," she told members of the AIPAC lobby group.
"It exposes daylight between Israel and the United States that others in the region hope to exploit. And it undermines America's unique ability to play a role – an essential role, I might add – in the peace process."
Mrs Clinton's implicit rebuke sets the stage for an intriguing encounter between President Barack Obama and Mr Netanyahu at the White House on Tuesday evening. >>> Adrian Blomfield in Jerusalem and Rob Crilly | Monday, March 22, 2010
