Ashton Meets Netanyahu, Israel OKs Expansion of 2,000 Settler Homes

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton held talks on Sunday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as the international community seeks to relaunch peace talks.

Neither side issued a statement after the afternoon discussions, which came after Ashton met earlier in the week with Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

The Palestinians called on the European Union to support them as they head to the United Nations to seek recognition and membership for a Palestinian state.

But many EU nations oppose the U.N. push, and European and U.S. representatives have sought in recent weeks to develop peace initiatives that could convince the Palestinians to put the bid on hold.

Israel has also stated firm opposition to the move, which it says would undermine the possibility of new peace talks.

On Friday, Lieberman told Ashton there was currently "no chance" negotiations would resume if the Palestinians sought U.N. recognition and warned that if the world body recognized a Palestinian state it would render previous agreements signed by Israel null and void.

The Palestinians insist that their push for international recognition does not rule out the possibility of new talks. But they concede they think it is unlikely that negotiations, mired in a stalemate, will resume in the near future.

Meanwhile, Israel on Sunday approved the expansion of 2,000 homes in the settlement district of Ramat Shlomo, allowing each home to add a room, the interior ministry said.

"Jerusalem's planning and urbanization committee on Sunday authorized the enlargement of 2,000 homes in the neighborhood of Ramat Shlomo," it said in a statement.

"An additional room will be built in each of these 2,000 homes in response to the needs of the numerous families suffering from housing problems in this area," it added.

The Ramat Shlomo neighborhood lies in an area of Arab east Jerusalem, which Israel captured during the 1967 Six Day War and later annexed in a move not recognized by the international community.

Israel considers Jerusalem to be its undivided capital, but the Palestinians, with the support of much of the international community, want to make east Jerusalem the capital of their future state.

Israel's construction or expansion of homes in the area has drawn criticism from European capitals and Washington in the past, and settlement building in Ramat Shlomo led to a crisis in relations with the United States last year.

In March 2010, Israel announced approval for the construction of 1,600 homes in the settlement neighborhood just as U.S. Vice President Joe Biden visited the Jewish state for meetings with Israeli officials.

The announcement angered Biden, and prompted Netanyahu to offer an apology for the "unfortunate timing."

That announcement came as U.S. officials laid the groundwork for the resumption of direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians, the first in nearly two years.

The talks were launched later that year in Washington, but ground to a halt shortly after they started when Israel declined to renew a moratorium that froze settlement construction in the West Bank, though not in Jerusalem.

The Palestinians have refused to hold talks while Israel builds on land they want for their future state, and negotiations have remained on hold since late September 2010 because of the issue.