Joe Biden attempts to salvage Middle East peace talks

The US vice-president, Joe Biden, today attempted to salvage the Middle East peace talks after the Palestinians announced they were pulling out of a new round of indirect negotiations before they had begun. The Palestinian move was in protest against Israel's decision to build hundreds of new homes in a Jewish settlement in East Jerusalem. The withdrawal from negotiations, announced in Cairo by Amr Moussa, the head of the Arab League, represents a major setback to months of diplomacy by the US administration prior to Biden's visit to the region. The US vice-president said an agreement would be "profoundly" in Israel's interests and appealed to the Israeli government to make a serious attempt to reach peace with the Palestinians. "The most important thing is for these talks to go forward, and go forward promptly, and go forward in good faith," he said in a speech at Tel Aviv University. "We can't delay, because when progress is postponed, extremists exploit our differences." After strongly condemning the Israeli settlement expansion earlier in the week, Biden used today's speech to praise the country, saying the US had "no better friend". But he stressed the need to end the conflict to restore to the Palestinians "the fundamental dignity and self-respect that their current predicament denies them". Yesterday, Moussa said he had been told by the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, that even the low-key process of "proximity talks" could not begin unless Israel stopped expanding its settlements. "The Palestinian side is not ready to negotiate under the present circumstances," Moussa said. Israeli and Palestinian leaders have not held direct negotiations since Israel's war in Gaza last year. On Monday, the White House won agreement from the two sides to begin the indirect talks, hoping they would lead to face-to-face meetings. The Palestinians had insisted there would be no direct talks unless Israel halted all settlement expansion, in line with the demands of the US administration and the "road map", which remains the framework of peace talks. But the Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, leading a rightwing coalition government, offered only a temporary and partial curb to new building. Then on Tuesday – hours after Biden met Israeli leaders – the Israeli interior ministry announced approval for 1,600 new apartments in Ramat Shlomo, an ultra-Orthodox Jewish settlement in East Jerusalem. All settlements on occupied land are illegal under international law. Israel's opposition Kadima party said it planned a no-confidence vote in the prime minister in parliament for "destroying" the Biden visit. Yesterday, Biden emerged from talks with Abbas in Ramallah, on the occupied West Bank, and repeated his criticisms of the timing and substance of Israel's announcement. "It is incumbent on both parties to build an atmosphere of support for negotiations and not to complicate them," he said. "The decision by the Israeli government to advance planning for new housing units in East Jerusalem undermines that very trust, the trust that we need right now in order to begin ... profitable negotiations." The Palestinian prime minister, Salam Fayyad, said the Palestinians appreciated "the strong statement of condemnation" by the US administration. Eli Yishai, the Israeli interior minister, apologised for the timing of the announcement, admitting it had caused Biden "real embarrassment".