Kerry calls Israel ambassador to protest WB outposts

John Kerry phoned Israel’s Michael Oren on Thursday to demand explanation over the outposts Tel Aviv had previously promised to demolish, the Israeli daily Ha’aretz reported on its website.

Kerry asked Tel Aviv to rethink the decision made by the Israeli High Court of Justice, or at least postpone the legalization of the outposts. He warned that the move would undermine efforts to revive negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA).

A phone call from the secretary of state to a foreign ambassador to demand explanation and voice protest is considered a very unusual move as such protests are usually conveyed through lower-level diplomatic channels.

The announcement of the outpost legalization comes despite Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s pledge to Kerry to “restrain” settlement activity.

The thorny issue prompted PA officials to leave the negotiating table in 2009 and to refuse to return to direct talks since then.

Israel’s decision regarding the illegal outposts comes on the eve of Kerry’s fourth visit to the Middle East region.

Kerry is due to meet Netanyahu in al-Quds (Jerusalem) on Thursday and Acting Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah on Friday.