The United States thwarted an Israeli attempt to play down a diplomatic rift on Sunday by renewing its condemnation of plans to build settler homes in occupied East Jerusalem.
Biden was left fuming last Tuesday after Israel announced plans to build 1,600 settler homes in predominantly Arab East Jerusalem just hours after he had succeeded in persuading the Israeli and Palestinian leaderships to begin indirect talks.
The move was widely interpreted in Washington as a calculated snub designed to humiliate Obama's peacemaking efforts in the Middle East, which have proved unpopular in Israel.
"This was an affront, it was an insult but most importantly it undermined this very fragile effort to bring peace to that region," David Axelrod, Obama's most senior political adviser, told NBC News. "This was not the right way to behave."
For more: U.S. rebuffs Israel's attempt to downplay rift over settlements
Biden was left fuming last Tuesday after Israel announced plans to build 1,600 settler homes in predominantly Arab East Jerusalem just hours after he had succeeded in persuading the Israeli and Palestinian leaderships to begin indirect talks.
The move was widely interpreted in Washington as a calculated snub designed to humiliate Obama's peacemaking efforts in the Middle East, which have proved unpopular in Israel.
"This was an affront, it was an insult but most importantly it undermined this very fragile effort to bring peace to that region," David Axelrod, Obama's most senior political adviser, told NBC News. "This was not the right way to behave."
For more: U.S. rebuffs Israel's attempt to downplay rift over settlements
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