U.S. vice president Joe Biden's trip to Israel in early March had been billed as the most significant state visit of the Obama administration to that country. But then came an announcement that 1,600 new homes were to be built in East Jerusalem for Israelis. For the Obama and Netanyahu administrations, the expansion of settlements has been the cause of serious disagreements and the timing of the announcement -- right in the middle of Biden's visit --soured the mood between the two allies. The unexpected rift put the issue of illegal settlements into the headlines. The strong language from the White House was echoed in the U.S. media. The reporting in the Arab world was a little more skeptical; media commentators there are waiting for the American rhetoric to be followed by action. Mosaic's Jamal Dajani contributes to this report from Al Jazeera English's Listening Post.

U.S. vice president Joe Biden's trip to Israel in early March had been billed as the most significant state visit of the Obama administration to that country. But then came an announcement that 1,600 new homes were to be built in East Jerusalem for Israelis. For the Obama and Netanyahu administrations, the expansion of settlements has been the cause of serious disagreements and the timing of the announcement -- right in the middle of Biden's visit --soured the mood between the two allies. The unexpected rift put the issue of illegal settlements into the headlines. The strong language from the White House was echoed in the U.S. media. The reporting in the Arab world was a little more skeptical; media commentators there are waiting for the American rhetoric to be followed by action. Mosaic's Jamal Dajani contributes to this report from Al Jazeera English's Listening Post.