Clinton Criticizes Housing Plans For East Jerusalem

President Clinton waded back into the Middle East peace process Monday, criticizing Israel’s decision to build Jewish housing in predominantly Arab east Jerusalem as a move that “builds mistrust” and then meeting with Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat for more than an hour at the White House.

Before starting his meeting with Arafat, Clinton said of the planned Israeli development: “I wish (the decision) had not been made. I don’t think it builds confidence, I think it builds mistrust.”

While the administration’s opposition to the east Jerusalem housing project was known, these were the president’s first comments since the controversial project won Israeli government approval last week.

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu toured east Jerusalem to underline his government’s stated commitment to invest in housing and other infrastructure for Palestinians, even as Israel builds 6,500 homes for Jews on a hill on the city’s southeastern boundary.

“What we are doing today is making … Jerusalem one city for Jews and Arabs alike,” the prime minister said. “We are serious about it. It’s not a ploy.”

But the housing project Netanyahu describes as a simple step toward making Jerusalem a single, integrated city, is viewed by Palestinians as an attempt to pre-empt any negotiations on the final status of the city, which is viewed as holy to Palestinians and Jews and claimed by both as their capital. The city’s fate is one of the most emotional of all in the delicate and troubled road toward peace in the region.