US-Israeli relations in 'crisis of historic proportions'
Netanyahu vows to continue colony building despite global outcry
Dubai: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shrugged off the international outcry and defiantly declared on Monday that colony building in occupied East Jerusalem would continue.
In a move likely to further heighten tensions with key ally the United States, the Israeli leader told his Likud party: "Construction will continue in [occupied] Jerusalem as this has been the case over the past 42 years."
Israel drew angry reactions from the US and the Palestinians by announcing the construction of 1,600 housing units in occupied east Jerusalem during US Vice-President Joe Biden's visit last week.
The decision sparked the worst feud between Israel and the US in recent memory as Israel's envoy to Washington was quoted as saying that the dispute has brought relations to a 35-year low.
"Israel's ties with the United States are in the worst crisis since 1975 ... a crisis of historic proportions," the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper quoted envoy Michael Oren as telling other diplomats.
Strained ties
- 1956: During the Suez Crisis, in which Britain, France, and Israel attacked Egypt, the US and the then-Soviet Union intervened to force a withdrawal.
- 1975: The US called for a partial Israeli withdrawal from Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, then under Israeli occupation, which ignited a major crisis between the two allies.
- 1989: Shortly after Israel described the outgoing Ronald Reagan administration as "the most pro-Israel ever," new US President George H Bush's administration told Israel to stop its "expansionist policies," and refused a request by Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir for $10 billion in loan guarantees unless he abandoned new colony plans in the West Bank.
