**US Vice-President Joe Biden says there must be no delay in resuming Mid-East peace talks, despite a row over Israeli plans for new homes in East Jerusalem.**Mr Biden repeated his criticism of the timing of the building decision, but praised the response of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the controversy.
He also stressed that the United States had “no better friend than Israel”.
The Palestinian Authority earlier said talks would be “very difficult” if the plans for the homes were not rescinded.
Both sides had only agreed on Monday to hold indirect, so-called “proximity talks” in a bid to restart the peace process, which has been stalled for more than a year.
‘Willing partners’
In his speech at Tel Aviv University, Mr Biden said the US had “no better friend in the community of nations than Israel” and that their relationship was “impervious to any shifts in either country, and in either country’s partisan politics”.
“Sometimes only a friend can deliver the hardest truth”
US Vice-President Joe Biden
But Mr Biden said the decision to approve the 1,600 new housing units in the settlement of Ramat Shlomo had “undermined the trust required for productive negotiations” and warranted his immediate and unequivocal condemnation.
“Sometimes only a friend can deliver the hardest truth,” he added.
However, the US vice-president said he also appreciated the response of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, “who announced this morning that he is putting in place a process to prevent this sort of occurrence, and who clarified that the beginning of actual construction would likely take several years”.
“That’s significant because it gives negotiations the time to resolve this as well as other obstacles,” Mr Biden said.
He warned Israeli leaders that in Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, they “finally have willing partners who share the goal of peace between two states”.
“Their commitment to peace is an opportunity that must be seized,” he added.
Close to 500,000 Jews live in more than 100 settlements built since Israel’s 1967 occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem. They are illegal under international law, although Israel disputes this.