The US ambassador to Israel, Tom Neides, commented today (Wednesday) on the construction plans for the Givat Al-Shaked neighborhood in Jerusalem, which were approved by the local planning and construction committee at the beginning of the month: "Our position is very clear, we do not support it.
I clarified this position to the government, the mayor of Jerusalem, the minister of the interior Shaked and the prime minister's office.
We are still working with the Israeli government to limit this."
The neighborhood is planned on an area of 38 dunams next to Beit Tzapafa in the south of the city.
The area is partly beyond the green line and hence the American opposition to building there.
Givat Al-Shaked is supposed to include 700 housing units, 210 of which will be allocated for long-term rental, alongside commercial and employment areas.
Neidas answered questions from journalists at an event of USAID, the aid agency of the American government that supports the Palestinian population.
In response to "Israel Today"'s question when will the US announce that the nuclear talks with Iran have failed, and what actions does the administration intend to take to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons on the assumption that the violations of the agreement it commits will continue, Neides said: "President Biden said very clearly that we will not allow Iran to obtain nuclear weapon.
In addition, we said that we will not tie Israel's hands to protect itself from Iran or its affiliates.
"We are still working with the Israeli government in order to limit this."
Neidas, photo: Oren Ben Hakon
"Thirdly, the president also made it clear that we are interested in achieving a diplomatic solution to this crisis under the conditions we passed on to the Europeans. These conditions have not yet been met and until that happens no deal will be signed."
However, Naides did not answer if and when the US intends to announce the end of the contacts with Iran, which have been going on for many months and which the Iranians are taking advantage of to get closer and closer to the bomb.
Regarding incitement against Israel and anti-Semitism in textbooks and the Palestinian education system, Naides said that "under American law, we cannot transfer money directly to the Palestinian Authority. We do transfer money to UNRWA, which provides education to Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
UNRWA is not perfect, to say the least, and there are many things that its people need to work on, including some of their educational activities. However, UNRWA is also doing many very positive things in the West Bank and we work with it on a daily basis to improve what needs improvement, Mainly in the textbooks."
A UNRA school in the Gaza Strip, photo: E.P
Regarding the six Palestinian organizations declared by Israel as terrorist organizations, Naides said that "We continue to encourage the Israelis to provide us with information regarding their decision on the issue. We are analyzing the information they have already given us and our position on the issue has not changed. The Israelis provided evidence on the issue about eight months ago and we encourage them to provide us with more information, because we have not yet reached a decision similar to theirs."
According to the administration, the information provided by Israel regarding the activities of the organizations is not sufficient to establish that they engage in terrorism or assist it.
Neidas also referred to the IDF's activity this morning in Jenin, in which four terrorists were killed and dozens of Palestinians were wounded: "We fully support Israel's right to defend itself and make sure that terrorists cannot carry out their plan.
Obviously we are also concerned when there is a loss of life that is not related to terrorist operatives.
We are working very closely with the Palestinian security mechanisms to encourage them to take the actions they are supposed to take, and we are following the situation closely."
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