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Source: http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=195970
Kurtzer: U.S. Statement on East Jerusalem Hard to Come By
(Jerusalem Post) Tovah Lazaroff - The U.S. would set a policy precedent if it made a clear statement that excluded Jewish neighborhoods of east Jerusalem from any settlement freeze, former American ambassador to Israel Daniel Kurtzer said Thursday. It would represent the first time Washington had clearly stated its policy with respect to east Jerusalem, Kurtzer said. And therefore, he indicated, it was highly unlikely that a clear written commitment would be made. In the 1990s, the U.S. vetoed two UN Security Council resolutions condemning east Jerusalem construction. But at the same time, the U.S. has often chastised Israel for building in east Jerusalem. Israel's right to continue to build in east Jerusalem has become a critical component of the incentives package now under discussion that the Obama administration wants to exchange for a 90-day freeze on new settlement construction.