Member of Knesset Nachman Shai (Kadima) has criticized Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu (Likud) for the government decision to build 1,600 new Jewish homes in the Ramat Shlomo neighborhood of Jerusalem and called on the premier to immediately cancel the decision. Shai specifically attacked the timing of the government’s announcement, which coincided with a state visit from United States Vice President Joe Biden.

The United States opposes a Jewish presence in portions of the capital liberated by Israel during the 1967 Six-Day War and is currently pressuring the Netanyahu government to surrender most of Jerusalem to the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority. MK Shai called the United States Israel’s closest friend and expressed embarrassment that Israel’s government would assert Jewish rights to Jerusalem during an official visit from the American vice president.