of Peace Now described the measure as "a knife to the back of Mahmoud Abbas" in that while the government negotiates with Hamas, the measure has undermined peace talks with Palestinian moderates on the West Bank. Palestine Hanan Ashrawi, a Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) leader, stated that the move: "clearly represents Israel's deliberate intent to wipe out any Palestinian presence on the land and to willfully impose a de facto one-state solution." Saeb Erekat called for diplomatic action against Israel. International The United States responded to the announcement by rebuking Israel for taking measures that were 'counter-productive' to the two-state solution in peace talks. Speaking anonymously, a U.S. State Department official, said the U.S. had requested of Israel that it reverse the decision since it contradicted "Israel’s stated goal of a negotiated two-state solution with the Palestinians.” According to Israeli sources, the decision "drove the Americans nuts", and the United States administration was mulling measures to respond to the declaration, which had not been cleared with them. The expropriation was also condemned by the United Nations, PLO, United Kingdom Egypt, France, Spain, Russia, European Union, Turkey, Norway, Japan and Amnesty International. Richard Ottaway cited the expropriation as an 'outrageous provocation', the last of many landgrabs in the West bank, which tipped him, a long-time supporter of Israel, into casting an abstention vote in a British Parliamentary resolution supporting recognition of Palestine as a state. The New York Times' belief was that the timing of the decision appeared to indicate a political desire to compensate settlers in the West Bank and punish the Palestinian population. References External links Shvut Yisrael Yeshiva (Hebrew) Gevaot Website (Hebrew) Gush Etzion Regional Council Nahal settlements Populated places established in 1984 1984 establishments in the Palestinian territories Israeli outposts Unauthorized Israeli settlements