Israel legalizes three West Bank outposts, US concerned

Israel said on Tuesday it had granted legal status to three settlement outposts in the occupied West Bank, a move that could shore up the governing coalition but which drew sharp criticism from the U.S., Europe and the Palestinians.

Israel's main ally, the United States, said it was worried by the decision. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Washington was seeking clarification from the Israeli government, and repeated U.S. opposition to settlement activity.
   
"We are obviously concerned by the reports that we have seen. We have raised this with the Israeli government," Nuland said. "We don't think this is helpful to the process. We don't accept the legitimacy of continued settlement activity".

Germany's Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle also criticized the Israeli move, saying Berlin had "pushed in talks with the Israeli side over the past days for this not to happen."
  
" I'm very worried about the plan to legalize Israeli settlements in the West Bank," said Westerwelle.
   
Nabil Abu Rdainah, a spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, condemned the Israeli decision, saying "Netanyahu has pushed things to a dead end yet again."