Sunday, March 21, 2010

Netanyahu sparks Germany's anger in latest East Jerusalem construction spat

During the crisis between Israel and the U.S. administration last week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu managed to anger German Chancellor Angela Merkel, too, after his office gave the media details of a phone conversation between the two leaders on construction in East Jerusalem. Merkel said that Netanyahu had "used" her and undermined her trust in him.

Merkel and Netanyahu spoke last Saturday, several hours after the phone call in which U.S. Secretary State Hillary Clinton reprimanded the prime minister. A senior German source who requested anonymity said Merkel had called Netanyahu after a request from the White House. The Americans requested her involvement to stress that it was not only the United States that disagreed with the construction in East Jerusalem's Ramat Shlomo neighborhood.

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