The Israeli Foreign Ministry did the equivalent of a diplomat eyebrow raise in response to a European Union statement condemning Jerusalem's recent decision to advance housing construction in a small area east of Jerusalem. A statement communicated by the Foreign Ministry Spokesman noted that the EU focus on Israeli homes and schools seems strained when juxtaposed against a recent speech by Hamas politburo cheif Khaled Mashaal pledging the eradication of Israel and a recent unilateral diplomatic gambit by Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas abandoning several decades of bilateral Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. The EU statement revolves around construction in the so-called E1 corridor, a tiny strip of land east of Jerusalem which has consistently been envisioned, including by the 2000 Clinton parameters, as remaining under Israeli sovereignty under a final status agreement.
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