Oh shove it:

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice warned Israel on Friday that its plan to build 300 house units on land captured in the 1967 Six-Day-War threatened U.S.-backed efforts to reach peace with the Palestinians. "We are in a time when the goal is to build maximum confidence with the parties and this doesn't help to build confidence," she said in rare U.S. criticism of Israel. There should not be anything which might prejudge final-status negotations," Rice said after talks with Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni on the sidelines of a NATO meeting. "It's even more important now that we are on the eve of the beginning of the negotiations. I made that position clear," she told a news conference. Israel has issued a tender for the construction of some 300 units in Har Homa, one of several residential districts that have been built on land captured by Israel in the 1967 war.

The weird thing is, this seems exactly like prejudging final status negotiations. Maybe there's a way to interpret "the Palestinians say that this is theirs and so we think you should default to their position" as something other than a prejudgment, but, um - isn't that like its definition?

Fatah leaders declared that they're going to fight alongside Hamas, but that was apparently not so out of line that it warranted a "this hurts confidence" finger-wagging. But let Israel build on land that most Israelis want to keep in a final peace deal and suddenly Annapolis is in immediate danger of total collapse.

References:
* Rice warns Israel against East J'lem construction [Ha'aretz]
* Fatah: We're Going To Use Our New US And Russian-Supplied Weapons To Fight With Hamas Against Israel (Plus: Hamas Upgrades, Stockpiles Their Qassams) [MR]

Previously:
* Condi: Palestinians Are Like Oppressed Blacks In The Jim Crow South (Plus: Hamas: "No Room For Jews" In Israel)
* State Department Gets Bright Idea: Let's Screw Israel Even More By Bundling Syria Into The Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process
* Rice Gets Advice From Jimmy Carter And James Baker On How To Pressure Israel