Palestinian leaders are accusing the Obama administration of destroying any chance of peace talks after Secretary of State Hillary Clinton backed Israel’s refusal to halt expanding illegal Jewish settlements in the West Bank. Up until this weekend, the Obama administration had been demanding that Israel halt all settlement building before negotiations could resume, but Clinton announced a reversal of that policy on Saturday during a one-day visit to the Middle East.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton: “What the Prime Minister is saying is historically accurate. There has never been a precondition. It’s always been an issue within the negotiations. What the Prime Minister has offered, in specifics of a restraint on the policy of settlements, which he has just described — no new starts, for example — is unprecedented, in the context of prior to negotiations.”

Israel is refusing to halt construction of about 3,000 houses currently being built in the West Bank or any construction in occupied East Jerusalem. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticized the Palestinian leadership for calling for a freeze on illegal settlements.

Benjamin Netanyahu: “The simple fact is this: We are willing to engage in peace talks immediately without preconditions. The other fact is that, unfortunately, the other side is not. It is asking and piling on preconditions that it never put on in the sixteen years that we’ve had the peace process, since the annunciation of the Oslo accords. There have not been these preconditions. It’s a change of Palestinian policy, and I hope they change back to the right thing, which is to get into the negotiating tent. We’re eager and sincere in our desire to reach an agreement to end this conflict.”

Earlier today, Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa said Arab states are deeply disappointed that the US-Israeli talks last week failed to produce greater pressure for a freeze on West Bank settlement building.