09 November 2010

Obama Says New Israeli Construction Is Not Helpful

President Obama, in a press conference with Indonesian President Yudhoyono, discussed Middle East peace and the G20 meeting, among other topics.

By Stephen Kaufman
Staff Writer

Washington — Commenting on Israel’s plans to build 1,300 new apartments in East Jerusalem, President Obama said “this kind of activity is never helpful” during peaceful negotiations, such as the Israelis and Palestinians are engaging in to try to resolve their conflict.

Speaking in Jakarta, Indonesia, at a November 9 press conference with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Obama said he had not yet had a full briefing concerning Israel’s intentions in the announcement of the new construction, but expressed concern that “we’re not seeing each side make the extra effort involved to get a breakthrough that could finally create a framework for a secure Israel living … side by side in peace with a sovereign Palestine.”

Israel captured East Jerusalem during its June 1967 war with neighboring Arab countries, and since then has claimed all parts of the city to be its united capital. Palestinians, in turn, have continued to demand the implementation of U.N. resolutions 242 and 338, calling for the return of territories captured through war, including East Jerusalem.

The Obama administration worked to bring about the resumption of direct talks between Israeli and Palestinian leaders in early September, but the discussions have not continued after Israel allowed a six-month moratorium on its settlement-building in the occupied West Bank to expire at the end of September.

In reaction to the latest Israeli announcement, the president said “each of these incremental steps can end up breaking down trust between the parties,” but added that the United States will continue its efforts to get the two sides to resume peace negotiations.

“We’re going to keep on working on it,” he said. “It is in the world’s interest, it is in the interest of the people of Israel, and it is in the interest of the Palestinian people to achieve that settlement, to achieve that agreement.”

OBAMA URGES G20 TO COORDINATE ON TRADE

Ahead of the November 11–12 Group of 20 (G20) leading economies summit in South Korea, Obama called for “additional tools to encourage balanced and sustainable growth” in the global economy.

The severity of the recent global economic crisis was partly due to “huge imbalances when it comes to surpluses and deficits,” he said, and G20 members “have not yet achieved that balanced growth.”

Obama said “effective coordination” among G20 members during the global economic crisis discouraged protectionist trade policies, created recovery programs that increased consumer demand and stabilized world banking systems so that now “countries for the most part around the world are back on a growth pattern.”

But he said some countries are continuing to have large surpluses and are “intervening significantly in the currency markets to maintain their advantage when it comes to their currency,” while other countries are in deficit.

“Both surplus and deficit countries would benefit if there was a more balanced program in which the surplus countries were focused on internal demand, there was a more market-based approach to the currencies and the deficit countries thereby were able to export more — and that would also make it easier for them to deal with their unemployment issues,” Obama said.

The president expressed confidence that the G20 can make progress on the issue during its summit in Seoul. “It’s not going to happen all at once. But I’m very much focused on creating a win-win situation in which everybody is invested in expanding world trade, everybody is invested in increased prosperity, but we’re doing so in a way in which everybody is benefiting and not just some,” he said.

(This is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://www.america.gov)