President Barack Obama has concluded that Israel and the Palestinians are unlikely to achieve peace unless they’re under external pressure to make the requisite compromises. Believing that a two-state solution is in the best interests of both parties and that time is running out for such a solution, the President is stepping up the pressure on both sides. That was Obama’s message at a White House meeting on July 13 with representatives of leading Jewish-American organizations, some of whom have lately complained that the President is unfairly pressuring Israel to make concessions on West Bank settlements, while going easy on the Palestinians.
Tag Archives: israel
Fugitive U.S. white supremacist captured in Israel
A fugitive American white supremacist was arrested Monday in Israel, ending an international manhunt that began in 2007, Israeli and U.S. officials said. Micky Louis Mayon, one of the 100 most wanted people in the United States, was taken into custody in southern Tel Aviv after Israel received information from Interpol indicating he was there.
Reports: Trial of Baha’is delayed in Iran
A death-penalty trial of seven Baha’i prisoners accused of spying for Israel has been delayed, Iranian officials have told family members, according to the U.S.
Biden’s Israel and Iran Comments Produce Oil-Price Fears
Oil analysts are jittery this week following comments on Sunday by Vice President Joe Biden that were widely interpreted as a green light to Israel to bomb Iran’s nuclear facilities.
Politically Incorrect
For a man reputed to be Israel’s biggest loudmouth, Avigdor Lieberman speaks softly. His flat, Russian-accented baritone rarely rises above a murmur. He’s not a shouter
Amnesty: Israel killed hundreds of Gaza civilians
Israeli troops killed hundreds of unarmed civilian adults and children, broke laws and committed war crimes during their winter offensive in Gaza, Amnesty International said in a scathing report released Thursday. The human rights group also pointed a finger at Hamas and other Palestinian militant organizations in its 117-page report. Hamas and other Palestinian groups committed war crimes by firing hundreds of rockets into southern Israel, killing three Israeli civilians, injuring scores and driving thousands from their homes, according to the report
In a Lurch Toward the Center, Netanyahu Backs Palestinian State
If the 300,000 West Bank settlers identified by the American President as an obstacle to Middle East peace were expecting Bibi Netanyahu to support their cherished dream of an Israel stretching from the Jordan to the Mediterranean sea, they were disappointed on Sunday night. The right wing leader instead took a sharp and unexpected lurch to the center and said he’d support a two-state solution, meaning something called Palestine is a step closer to being inked onto their 3,000-year-old Biblical map. To his credit, clench-jawed Netanyahu could have used the re-election of Israel’s favorite bogeyman Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Iran to raise the usual security alarms and resort to time-tested fear-mongering
Israel targets smuggling tunnels in Gaza
Israeli forces said they targeted two smuggling tunnels in Gaza on Sunday in response to rocket and mortar attacks in southern Israel.
Israeli settlers wary, defiant in West Bank
Many Jewish settlers in the West Bank believe the land was promised to them in the Bible by God. By that rationale, the thoughts of the U.S. president or even their own leaders means little.
Why Obama Should Keep the Heat on Israel …
The big question about Barack Obama has always been this: Is he a risk taker?