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Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Obama: Plan to build 900 units in Gilo doesn't make Israel safer

(Jpost).Israel's latest move to build some 900 units in the capital's southeastern Gilo neighborhood complicates administration efforts to relaunch peace talks and embitters the Palestinians, US President Barack Obama said Wednesday.

Obama told Fox News in an interview that additional settlement building does not make Israel safer. He said such moves make it harder to achieve peace in the region, and embitters the Palestinians in a way that he said could be very dangerous.

Also Wednesday, opposition leader and Kadima chair Tzipi Livni met with French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner in Jerusalem, and stressed that construction in Gilo needn't be halted.

"Gilo is part of the Israeli consensus, and that understanding is important for every discussion on the final borders of any future agreement," she told him.