Mahmoud Abbas: Israel-Palestinian peace talks off unless new settlements canceled

"Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, and construction there will be carried out like in Tel Aviv or any other city – in every part of Jerusalem according to the plans," Israeli Cabinet Secretary Zvi Hauser told Israel Radio.

Abbas’s announcement comes after a day of uncertainty over whether the settlement announcement would derail the talks. As the Monitor and The New York Times reported Wednesday, Palestinians stopped short of canceling the talks. That stance had apparently changed, however, by the time of Abbas’s meeting with Moussa today.

Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that the timing of the announcement also came as a surprise to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who apologized to Biden. The paper reports that Mr. Netanyahu rebuked Interior Minister Eli Yishai Wednesday for the "wretched, displaced, insensitive" timing of the decision. Reuters reports the Interior minister is controlled by the ultraorthodox, nationalist Shas party, a member of Netanyahu’s governing coalition.

Biden condemned the settlement decision, and Politico reports that he also changed the text of a speech he delivered Thursday to put more pressure on Israel.

What had originally been intended as “the big ‘show them the love’ speech," as one member of the American Jewish community in touch with the Obama administration put it, will now emphasize as well that Israel has to take more tangible steps toward peace.

“The speech was reworked yesterday,” an administration source said. While it’s mostly about the strength of the US- Israeli relationship, he said, “it also has the ‘but you have to do things yourselves for peace’ part – which is now stronger than it was before yesterday.”

The Jerusalem Post, nevertheless, titled its story: "Biden: The US has no better friend than Israel."

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