Abbas to Obama: No ‘Peace’ Without 26 Freed Terrorists
One wonders if, during his meeting with Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas at the White House on Monday, President Obama ever felt he was being subjected to a shakedown. In front of the press, Abbas expressed his concern about Israel’s freeing of a fourth and last batch of 26 convicted Palestinian terrorists on the scheduled […]
Abbas Expected to Officially Refuse to Recognize Israel
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will meet with United States President Barack Obama on Monday to discuss a peace framework agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
Netanyahu at AIPAC: Rebutting Obama, Affirming Israel
On Sunday, even before Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu had arrived in America for his current visit, President Obama was portraying him in an interview to Bloomberg’s Jeffrey Goldberg as the obstacle to Israeli-Palestinian peace. At the same time, Obama lavished praised on Netanyahu’s opposite number on the Palestinian side, Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas, […]
Obama’s Report Card – Failing America and Failing Israel
Instead of pressuring Israel to handover land to the Palestinians under the guise of “peace,” President Obama should be concerned about his own scandals and lies on the issues affecting the American people and the US economy, and by extension, Israel and the Middle East. A quick Internet search on President Obama’s policies brings up […]
Netanyahu Stands Up to Obama
After private talks at the White House that lasted nearly three hours between U.S. President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, one of…
Abbas: Release Prisoners, Halt Settlement Construction or No Peace
In a meeting yesterday in Ramallah between Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Meretz party leader MK Zahava Gal-on, Abbas said that the Palestinians would agree to prolong peace negotiations if Israel officially froze all construction and released additional Palestinian prisoners. “The only way we will agree to extend talks is if Netanyahu declares a […]
Reading the Obama Interview
Bloomberg columnist Jeffrey Goldberg’s interview with President Obama on the eve of his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu is highly significant, verging on a turning point in US-Israeli relations. Several points emerge from the interview. First is the implied threat that if current peace negotiations with the Palestinians fail, the US will be unable […]
Obama Abandons Israel
United States President Barack Obama is laying down some ground rules when it comes to the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. In an interview with Bloomberg, Obama warned Israel that it could expect sanctions and international isolation should Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fail to support a framework peace agreement. In the interview, Obama quoted the Jewish […]
PA Chief Negotiator Rejects Extending Peace Talks
Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat announced that it will not take part in U.S. brokered peace negotiations with Israel beyond April. The United States has been attempting to extend peace talks beyond its April deadline after nine months of talks. Erekat told AFP that “There is no meaning to prolonging the negotiation, even for one […]
Robert Malley’s Return
That there is widespread anxiety over the Obama administration’s Middle East policies is hardly a secret. If we have learned anything over the past six years it is that, contrary to the conspiratorial theory that the so-called “Israel Lobby” is the ultimate authority when it comes to Washington’s stance in the region, the opposite is […]