Israel Plans New Settlements

Plans for 1,000 new homes to be built in East Jerusalem were published in Israeli newspapers just as Benjamin Netanyahu participated in negotiations in Washington, DC, the New York Times reports. The announcements fly in the face of American and Palestinian requests for a settlement freeze in the interest of restarting peace talks, and mirror a similarly embarrassing announcement made in March, when Joe Biden was visiting Jerusalem. Israeli officials promised at the time to keep a closer watch on building plans to avoid further surprises.