The public disagreement between Israel and the U.S. over continued settlement expansion in the West Bank and Jerusalem has heated up considerably. At a cabinet meeting on Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly rejected the Obama administration's request for a halt to construction of a planned settlement in Sheik Jarrah, located in Israeli-occupied East Jerusalem.

The disputed site is owned by billionaire and settlement supporter Irving Moskowitz who bought the property in 1985. Mr. Moskowitz hopes to construct 20 residence units at what is currently the site of the Shepherd's Hotel. The location was once used as a residence by the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin al-Husseini. It was also was once the home of author and Palestinian nationalist, George Antonius. The location borders an historic and wealthy Palestinian neighborhood which has many opulent villas. The proposed building site was described at the Israeli (Hebrew) Channel One web site as a "ticking time bomb since 1985." The municipality of Jerusalem has prevented the development of the site because of Palestinian sensibilities until recently.

...

What makes construction at the Shepherd's Hotel site so controversial is that it demonstrates Israel's policy of not only generally rejecting the U.S. request to cease building in the territories, but also to refuse a U.S. plea to halt a building at a specific site. An entreaty to stop the planned building on the property was delivered to Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren by State Department officials within the last few days. According to Ha'aretz, Oren told the Americans that Jerusalem is no different than any other part of his country and that Israel would not accede to their demand.

In his speech to the cabinet on Sunday, Netanyahu declared, "Jerusalem is united, it is the capital of the Jewish people, and its sovereignty is not open to debate." He further added that any Jew has the right to build anywhere in Jerusalem. The Prime Minister's statement received support from opposition member of parliament Yoel Hasoon (Kadima), who said,"the American request to refrain from building in Jerusalem is not legitimate. Jerusalem is the capital of Israel and the Jewish people, and is not a settlement...." ...

Jerusalem - US Mideast envoy George Mitchell wrapped up three days of talks here on Tuesday, heralding "good progress" in his meetings with Israeli officials. But he made no mention of a much anticipated agreement on the most visible point of contention in recent weeks and a key issue for Arabs: freezing settlement construction in the West Bank.

One of the main goals of Mr. Mitchell's visit, part of a regional trip that includes stops in Arab Gulf states later this week, had been to get Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to stop the expansion of settlements – a move President Obama sees as a jumping-off point to getting Israeli and Palestinian leaders to agree on a two-state solution. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has said that he will not return to talks with Israel unless such a freeze is instituted. ...

The settlers went on the rampage near the city of Nablus in the northern West Bank to protest the Israeli army's removal of an unauthorized settlement outpost in the area.

Ghassan Daglas, a Nablus municipality official, said the riot began with 10 settlers on horseback and grew to a mob of 30 south of the city, where the settlers attacked Palestinians who passed in cars.

Daglas said smoke from the burning fields blanketed the area, but no houses were damaged. Daglas said Israeli forces tried to stop the rampaging settlers.

Israel's paramilitary border police force said it arrested one settler. ...