Israel has rejected international condemnation of its latest plans for a major settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank. On Monday, five nations — Britain, Spain, Sweden, France and Denmark — summoned their Israeli ambassadors to protest Israel’s plan to build 3,000 new settlement homes and expand the “E1” settlement zone that splits the West Bank in two. The E1 construction had largely been put on hold following U.S. objections dating back to President George W. Bush. But Israel says it has resumed work there in direct response to last week’s Palestinian statehood vote at the United Nations. Despite harshly condemning the Palestinian Authority for advancing the statehood vote, the Obama administration has adopted a more hands-off approach to Israel’s settlement expansion. In Washington, State Department spokesperson Mark Toner called the settlement building “counterproductive.”

Mark Toner: “You know, we consider these kinds of actions, these kinds of unilateral decisions to be counterproductive and make it harder to resume direct negotiations. I mean, obviously, you know, we continue to consult closely with our allies and partners on how to get both parties back to the negotiating table, but I think, you know, our reaction is similar to their reaction, that this is not the kind of action that we need to see.”