JERUSALEM (JTA) -- The possibility of continuing peace talks with the Palestinians is "not particularly good," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.
We "hope that the Palestinians will stay in the talks in order to reach, in the end, concrete negotiations between us on a peace agreement," Netanyahu said Sunday at the beginning of the weekly Cabinet meeting.
The United States transferred $40 million in foreign assistance to the Palestinians.
The Associated Press reported Thursday that congressional lawmakers released the funds, which amount to 20 percent of the $187 million in foreign assistance from fiscal year 2011 that was held up by Congress in response to the Palestinians' actions at the United Nations.
The assistance that the U.S. is for humanitarian and economic purposes and not for security assistance.
Jordan's King Abdullah visited the West Bank for the first time in more than a decade to demonstrate support for the Palestinians' statehood bid in the United Nations.
The vote this week by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to approve full membership for the Palestinians is another step along the treacherous road toward full UN recognition of Palestine and continued delegitimization of Israel.
Fortunately, and to its credit, the United States voted against the move, labeling it “inexplicable,” but the final tally was 107-14, with 52 abstentions, among the UNESCO membership.
Submitted by Douglas Bloomfield on Wed, 09/21/2011 - 19:23
U.S. diplomats, not only in the Middle East, are "incredibly nervous" that angry pro-Palestinian mobs will attack American embassies and other installations in retaliation for opposing Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' application for UN recognition of Palestine, according to Congressional sources briefed by the State Department.
The “tsunami” of the Arab-Israeli conflict that some are predicting this September may or may not happen. And while the probable UN General Assembly recognition of Palestinian independence and the Durban III conference warrant attention, instead of prognosticating the fallout from these events, we should examine – and learn from – the last decade’s events that led to these moments.
Israeli warplanes attacked suspected terrorist targets in the Gaza Strip today, just hours after terrorists infiltrated into southern Israel to carry out a series of coordinated attacks that killed seven Israelis and wounded dozens of others.
As many as six Palestinians – including the chief of the Popular Resistance Committees – were reportedly killed in the Israeli attack on the Gaza city of Rafa. IDF Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Ganz that Israel targeted that area because it is “where we believe the planners of the attack are based.”
JERUSALEM (JTA) -- The United Nations "should not delude" the Palestinians into thinking that a unilateral declaration of a state will lead to its establishment, Israeli President Shimon Peres told a U.N. official.
Israel supports the establishment of an independent state, but one achieved through "direct and discreet" negotiations, Peres told U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Dr. Ashe-Rose Migiro Sunday during a meeting in Jerusalem.
