By Michael Hernandez
WASHINGTON
The U.S. denied reports Monday that Secretary of State John Kerry is planning to present a peace proposal to Israeli and Palestinian leaders.
“There are no current plans to introduce a peace plan,” State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters. “If we felt it would be productive, we would do it. Obviously we’re not - I just indicated we’re not - we have no plans to introduce a peace plan.”
Psaki’s comments came as Kerry prepared to meet with chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat at the State Department Monday evening.
Kerry's previous efforts to broker peace between the two sides ended in failure earlier this year.
In a move sure to foment already tense relations, Israel announced Monday that it approved the construction of 500 new settlements in the contested city of East Jerusalem.
Psaki called the move “unfortunate,” adding that it “flies in the face” of Israel’s commitments to the peace plan.
"It would be unfortunate at this sensitive time that after the unequivocal and unanimous position last week of the United States and others in the international community opposing construction in East Jerusalem were clearly vocalized, Israeli authorities would actively seek to move these plans forward," she said.
Israel occupied East Jerusalem during the 1967 Six-Day War. It later unilaterally annexed Jerusalem, claiming it as its capital – a move never recognized by the international community.
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