Israel announced Tuesday that it will erect 1,600 new Jewish housing units in the disputed area of East Jerusalem, said a report on MPR's All Things Considered.
The announcement came at a very untimely moment as Vice President Joe Biden arrived to encourage preliminary peace talks between the contending states of Israel and Palestine. The vice president condemned Israel for jeopardizing the talks, according to CNN.
Officials from Israel's Ministry of the Interior said that the housing project has been three years in the making and that the announcement was just poorly timed.
But Palestinians are not upset with when the announcement was given, but about its inflammatory consequences. Biden stressed that a state like Palestine needs a contiguous territory to be well managed.
After over a year without any steps towards peace negotiations, the Israelis latest action could ruin this new chance.
