'"Our relations with the United States are excellent," said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after his recent visit to the United States.<\/p>\r\n
Really?<\/p>\r\n
The White House spokesman commented this evening on Netanyahu's statement that the United States' opposition to construction on "Airplane Hill" in Jerusalem goes against American values, saying: "Netanyahu's words are puzzling.".<\/p>\r\n
\""It is strange that Netanyahu is trying to defend his government's actions by saying that our response does not reflect American values. The fact is that when it comes to American values, they are the ones that guide the United States' unwavering support for Israel, such as funding the Iron Dome batteries.".<\/p>\r\n
The spokesman added: "We oppose any unilateral action aimed at prejudging the fate of core issues, including the status of Jerusalem. These issues can only be decided through direct negotiations between the parties.".<\/p>\r\n
As you may recall, the Peace Now movement announced that the Jerusalem Municipality had approved the construction of thousands of new housing units on Givat Hamatos. The announcement drew American condemnation, saying it "could raise doubts about Israel's commitment and desire for peace with the Palestinians.".<\/p>\r\n
Netanyahu addressed the White House's criticism, saying: "As the Prime Minister of Israel, I do not understand the criticism - Arabs in Jerusalem buy apartments and no one disqualifies or interferes with them, so I am not going to tell a Jew not to buy in Jerusalem, including in Silwan. There will be no discrimination here. This is an approach that is unacceptable to me and is not consistent with basic values, including those of the United States.".<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Prime Minister said that the American condemnation of construction in Jerusalem is not consistent with the values \u200b\u200bof the United States - and the White House spokesman responds sharply: "It is American values \u200b\u200bthat funded your Iron Dome air defense system batteries."\"","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2434,7488,3251,4506,481],"class_list":["post-89261","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-1","tag-2434","tag-7488","tag-3251","tag-4506","tag-481"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n