The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) issued a statement on Sunday warning that recent US administration remarks about bilateral ties with Israel are "a matter of serious concern," and urged the White House to ease tensions.

AIPAC called on President Barak Obama’s administration to take immediate steps to defuse the tension with the Jewish State.

This comes after US officials including US Vice President Joe Biden, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and senior Obama advisor David Axelrod have slammed the new settlement construction and the timing of the announcement as insulting and destructive.

AIPAC’s statement warned that "the escalated rhetoric of recent days" was distracting from "the urgent issue of Iran's rapid pursuit of nuclear weapons, and the pursuit of peace between Israel and all its Arab neighbors."

It called on the US administration to “make a conscious effort to move away from public demands and unilateral deadlines directed at Israel, with whom the US shares basic, fundamental, and strategic interests.”

Both Clinton and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are due to address AIPAC’s annual conference, scheduled for March 21-23.

-AFP/NOW Lebanon