Israel World News

Opposition chief Tzipi Livni reiterated her support Friday for a Palestinian state and the resumption of peace talks as she made a rare foray by an Israeli leader into the Arab world. However, speaking at a forum in the coastal city of Tangiers devoted to conflict resolution, Livni said she would not countenance the establishment of a "terrorist" state as she also took aim at the Islamist movement Hamas. "I believe we can put an end to the conflict based on a two-state solution", she said in comments translated into French, adding it was vital that dialogue between the two sides is resumed. Livni ... Read Full Story

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - An aide to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday dismissed U.S. anger at Israel's approval for new homes in a settlement near Jerusalem, saying it was part of a routine building program. Netanyahu seemed keen to contain the fresh dispute with Washington over settlements, ordering cabinet ministers to show restraint after the White House said it was "dismayed" at the plan to build 900 new houses in Gilo. An official said the order went out after a deputy minister was quoted by an Israeli news website as accusing the United States of "behaving like a bull in a china shop" ... Read Full Story

Israel on Wednesday fended off criticism of its approval of hundreds of new homes in annexed Arab east Jerusalem as France urged a resumption of stalled Middle East peace talks. "Freezing construction in Gilo is just like freezing construction... in any other neighbourhood in Jerusalem and Israel," Interior Minister Eli Yishai, whose ministry issued the approval on Tuesday, told AFP. He was referring to the settlement in which the previous day Israel approved the addition of 900 new housing units, a move that drove another stake into already hobbled US-led efforts to restart negotiations that were suspended during the Gaza war at the turn ... Read Full Story

Israel defended on Wednesday its decision to build hundreds of new Jewish homes in annexed Arab east Jerusalem as US President Barack Obama warned the "dangerous" move pushed peace further away. New settlement construction "embitters the Palestinians in a way that could end up being very dangerous," Obama said in an interview with Fox News. "I think that additional settlement building does not contribute to Israel's security. I think it makes it harder for them to make peace with their neighbours," he said. Earlier on Wednesday, Israeli Interior Minister Eli Yishai defended his ministry's decision to build 900 new homes in east Jerusalem that ... Read Full Story

Israel approved the construction of hundreds of new housing units in annexed Arab east Jerusalem on Tuesday, driving another stake into troubled US efforts to restart Middle East peace talks. The interior ministry said it approved the construction of 900 new units in Gilo, one of a dozen Jewish settlements in east Jerusalem, adding that the project still faced review. Israeli news reports said that hawkish Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had rejected a request from his US ally to halt construction in Gilo. It was not clear whether the request concerned the project approved on Tuesday. The approval is likely to further hamper Washington's ... Read Full Story

The Obama administration is hardening its tone against Israel, but analysts warned Wednesday the tough talk was mere bluster hiding the lack of a viable plan to revive the Middle East peace process. "You've had three 'no's' to an American president in his first year," Aaron David Miller, who has served as advisor on Middle East peacemaking to previous US administrations, told AFP. President Barack Obama is now "faced with the default position, which is words," said Miller from the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. "And the louder they shout, the more there is a paradox. The tougher the words are, the weaker ... Read Full Story

French President Nicolas Sarkozy arrived in Riyadh on Tuesday for talks with Saudi King Abdullah after warning of an extremist backlash if Middle East peace talks do not commence soon. Abdullah greeted Sarkozy late in the afternoon at King Khalid International Airport and the two then headed for the king's desert farm in Riyadh's outskirts, where Sarkozy will spend the night. In a visit billed as more personal and aimed at tightening bonds, the two leaders are expected to review key regional political issues, with the impasse over Palestinian-Israeli peace talks at the top of the list. "The priority is to restart as soon ... Read Full Story