With Vice President Joe Biden in Israel, the Interior Ministry on Tuesday approved the construction of 1,600 new Jewish housing units in East Jerusalem, Haaretz reports.

According to a statement released by the Interior Ministry's Jerusalem district planning committee, the plan calls for the expansion of Ramat Shlomo, a Haredi neighborhood, with at least 30 percent of the new units allocated to young families.

"[This is Interior Minister] Eli Yishai's answer to Netanyahu's willingness to renew indirect peace talks with the Palestinians," exclaimed left-wing activist Meir Margalit.

Ministry sources defended the timing of the statement, saying it was coincidental and not intended to send a message to the Obama administration, which is opposed to Jewish construction in East Jerusalem.

"The fact that Eli Yishai couldn't restrain himself for another two to three days until Biden left Israel means his intention was to slap the U.S. administration in the face," said Margalit.

A spokesman for the Palestinian Authority said the decision to build homes "torpedoes" a plan to hold peace talks, agreed to only recently by both the Palestinians and Israel.

"The decision to build 1,600 units – settlement units in occupied Jerusalem – is a dangerous decision, liable to torpedo negotiations and make U.S. efforts (to renew talks) fail before they have even started," Abu Rudeina said.

Though Israel agreed in November to a 10-month building freeze in the West Bank, it specifically exempted Jerusalem, its capital.

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