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Israel Rejects Latest U.S. Criticism of Settlement Policy
(Washington Post) William Booth and Carol Morello - The Israeli government pushed back Thursday against the latest U.S. condemnation of its settlement enterprise. Reacting to the unusually sharp language in the State Department's "strong condemnation" of Israeli plans, the Israel Foreign Ministry said the 98 housing units approved for the Shilo area do not constitute "a new settlement." Ayelet Shaked, Israel's justice minister, said Washington should train its condemnation on Syria "rather than criticizing where Israel builds houses." The tone of the Obama administration's criticism of Israel's settlement policy began changing late last year and, since then, in what seems a deliberate calibration, the State Department has spoken out strongly almost every time Israel has announced new housing, not only in the West Bank but also in east Jerusalem. Netanyahu says that Israel has not built a new settlement in 20 years - that the growth is only of new "neighborhoods" built beside existing settlements.