Benjamin Netanyahu meets with Catherine Ashton in Jerusalem, June 19, 2013. Photo: Israel GPO.

AP – The European Union’s top diplomat has denounced Israel’s plan to build more than 1,500 homes in Jewish settlements in east Jerusalem and the West Bank. She calls the move illegal and a potential obstacle to peace.

Catherine Ashton, the European Union’s high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, says the EU “deplores” the Israeli plan and says it violates international law. Ashton said in a statement Thursday that “any actions that could hamper or undermine the on-going negotiations must be avoided.”

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