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Comments by top State Department official come after Netanyahu cabinet announces plan to encourage immigration into 557 'national priority' settlements, which reportedly include 70 in the West Bank.
The United States criticized a recently declared Israeli plan to subsidize construction in several West Bank settlements on Tuesday, with a top U.S. official calling the move "unconstructive."
Do "Settlers" have to pay a down payment ? Or is someone else actually investing the money and collecting rents or mortgages ?
The newly announced plan offers subsidies that could reach up to 50%-70% of development costs in areas deemed as being national priority areas A and B.
Answering a reporter's question concerning the new plan, State Department spokesman Mark Toner criticized the move, saying: "We've said this many times from this podium and from elsewhere that we view any move that would jeopardize getting these two parties back to the negotiating table."
Both American and Palestinian response came after the cabinet on Monday appointed a committee to examine land ownership issues in the West Bank.