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Update: Obama calls Israeli expansion 'dangerous'

by Susan Marie Kovalinsky | November 18, 2009 at 06:13 am

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This is an update of these stories here and here. The VIDEO, 'Inside Story - The pending Palestinian issue - 17 nov 2009 is here.

Giving his opinion that continued expansion of its Gilo settlement could lead to a dangerous situation with embittered Palestinians, U.S. PresidentBarack Obama put renewed pressure on Israel this morning to curb its settlement projects.

Obama said it would "embitter Palestinians in a way that is dangerous".

"I think that additional settlement building does not contribute to Israel's security, I think it makes it harder for them to make peace with their neighbors," Obama told Fox News.
"I think it embitters the Palestinians in a way that could end up being very dangerous."

Obama has made achieving peace between Israelis and Palestinians a top priority among a long list of foreign policy goals, but progress in restarting talks between the two sides has been scant.

On Tuesday the White House said it was dismayed over Israeli approval to expand the Gilo settlement in Jerusalem.

Israel approved the building of 900 homes for Jews on West Bank land it occupied in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and annexed to its Jerusalem municipality.

Obama has urged Israel to curb settlement expansion as a gesture of goodwill to Palestinians.