Trump to welcome Netanyahu as Palestinians fear U.S. shift

President Donald Trump prepared to host Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday for talks that could shape the contours of future Middle East policy, as Palestinians warned the White House not to abandon their goal of an independent state.

For decades, the idea of creating a Palestine living peacefully alongside Israel has been a bedrock U.S. position, though the last negotiations broke down in 2014.

But in a potential shift, a senior White House official said on Tuesday that peace did not necessarily have to entail Palestinian statehood, and Trump would not try to "dictate" a solution.

As Trump and Netanyahu prepared to meet, a senior Palestinian official disclosed that on Tuesday, CIA director Mike Pompeo held talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah, the seat of the Palestinian government in the occupied West Bank .... http://www.reuters.com

US House Votes To Disavow UN Resolution Against Israel

The US House of Representatives has overwhelmingly passed a bipartisan measure to disapprove a United Nations Security Council resolution that condemned Israeli settlements on the occupied Palestinian territories.

The motion, passed 342 to 80 on Thursday, described last month’s resolution as “an obstacle to Israel-Palestinian peace,” and was a rebuke to President Barack Obama’s approach to the US-Israel relationship.

It noted that the Obama administration’s decision to abstain – and not veto – the Security Council resolution “undermined” Washington’s decades-long policy of shielding Israel at the UN .... http://rinf.com

Q&A with Israeli minister: With Trump coming in, it’s time to annex much of the West Bank

JERUSALEM -- In the final weeks before President Obama leaves office, the United States has delivered a two-pronged diplomatic broadside against Israeli settlement building.

First, the United States acquiesced to a U.N. Security Council resolution calling on Israel to halt settlement activity. Days later, Secretary of State John F. Kerry delivered a speech blaming Israeli settlements for obstructing progress toward a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“No one thinking seriously about peace can ignore the reality of what the settlements pose to that peace,” Kerry said in his hour-long address .... https://www.washingtonpost.com

Kerry to Israel: "My job above all is to defend the United States of America."

Using language rarely heard from a U.S. secretary of state, Kerry warned that the settlers’ growing political power would eventually force Israel to make a fateful choice: “Israel can either be Jewish or democratic – it cannot be both – and it won’t ever really be at peace.”

And he blasted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in strident terms, calling his ruling coalition “the most right-wing in Israeli history, with an agenda driven by the most extreme elements.” Those elements, Kerry said, are now “defining the future of Israel, and their stated purpose is clear. They believe in one state: greater Israel.”

Kerry painted a dark picture of what that future might look like: “millions of Palestinians permanently living in segregated enclaves in the middle of the West Bank, with no real political rights, separate legal, education, and transportation systems, vast income disparities, under a permanent military occupation that deprives them of the most basic freedoms.” .... http://www.politico.com

Israeli legal committee approves bill to censor internet

The legal committee of Israel’s ministerial council approved on Monday an “anti-incitement” bill which paves the way for censoring internet content, including Facebook and Twitter posts,Quds Press has reported. The bill is now ready to be proposed to the Knesset for its first reading.

If it becomes law, the bill will allow Israeli courts to ask operators of internet networks, including news websites, blogs and social media, to delete without delay content that is deemed to be “incitement”. This is defined as anything that is illegal or a “tangible” threat to a person, the Israeli public or the state.

Minister of Public Security Gilad Erdan and Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked introduced the bill to the ministerial council. According to Shaked, reported Haaretz, Facebook’s administrators have been responding to Israeli requests to delete 95 per cent of content regarded as “incitement” .... https://www.middleeastmonitor.com

Kerry: If the choice is one state, Israel can be either Jewish or democratic, it cannot be both

“2-state solution is the only way to achieve a just and lasting peace between the Israelis and Palestinians,” Kerry said emphasizing that it was the only way to ensure Israel’s future as a Jewish and democratic state.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accused Washington of conspiring against his country by not blocking the Egyptian resolution condemning Israeli settlements at the UN Security Council last week. The State Department has dismissed the accusation as “just not true.”

“The US did in fact vote in accordance with our values,” Kerry said. “No American administration has done more for Israel’s security than Barack Obama’s.”

Kerry reminded of the amount of military aid Israel has received from the US from Iron Dome to intelligence. “More than ½ of our entire global foreign military financing goes to Israel,” Kerry said .... https://www.rt.com/usa

Netanyahu told New Zealand its actions at UN Security Council were a 'declaration of war'

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Foreign Minister Murray McCully of a "declaration of war" if the UN Security Council passed a resolution condemning Israel's continued settlements, according to a report.

New Zealand co-sponsored the resolution, which said the settlements violate international law and undermine a two-state solution in Israel's conflict with Palestine.

On Saturday, the Security Council voted in favour of passing the resolution and the Israeli Government recalled its ambassador from New Zealand as a result.

Before the vote, Netanyahu personally phoned McCully and warned him of war, unnamed Western diplomats told Isareli newspaper Haaretz .... http://www.nzherald.co.nz

Israel Urges Jews To Leave France, Suspends "Working Ties" With Countries That Voted For UN Resolution

In an unexpected escalation that was not the result of Israel's angry response to Friday's UN vote which passed a resolution condemning the country's Palestinian settlements, and which the US refused to veto, Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Monday called on French Jews to leave their country to protest a Paris-hosted conference planned for next month aimed at restarting Palestine-Israel peace talks, Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth has reported .... http://www.zerohedge.com

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calls UN settlement vote "biased and shameful"

Jerusalem (AFP) - Israel scrambled Saturday to contain the fallout from a UN vote demanding it halt settlements in Palestinian territory, lashing out at US President Barack Obama over the "shameful" resolution.

The Security Council passed the measure Friday after the United States abstained, enabling the adoption of the first UN resolution since 1979 to condemn Israel over its settlement policy.

By deciding not to veto the move, the US took a rare step that deeply angered Israel, which accused Obama of abandoning its closest Middle East ally in the waning days of his administratio .... https://www.yahoo.com

For Obama and Netanyahu, a Final Clash After Years of Conflict

Mr. Obama’s decision on Friday not to block a United Nations Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlements laid bare all the grievances the two men have nursed since shortly after they took office in 2009. For Mr. Netanyahu, it was the final betrayal by a president who was supposed to be an ally but never really was. For Mr. Obama, it was the inevitable result of Mr. Netanyahu’s own stubborn defiance of international concerns with his policies.

The two sides did little to hide their mutual contempt. After talks led them to conclude that Mr. Obama would not veto the resolution, as presidents of both parties have done in the past, Israeli officials essentially washed their hands of the incumbent and contacted his successor in the wings. President-elect Donald J. Trump promptly put out a statement calling on Mr. Obama to veto the resolution .... http://www.nytimes.com

Tel Aviv rejects ‘shameful & absurd anti-Israel resolution’ – Netanyahu office

Israel will not abide by the UN Security Council’s demands for Tel Aviv to halt its settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian lands, the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement.

“Israel rejects this shameful anti-Israel resolution at the UN and will not abide by its terms,” the statement from the PM’s office said, according to Reuters.

The Obama administration “failed to protect Israel against this gang-up at the UN,” and what is even worse, “colluded with it behind the scenes,” the statement added .... https://www.rt.com

Trump Wants An ‘Ultimate’ Solution To Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

Donald Trump is seeking to negotiate an “ultimate deal” between the Palestinians and the Israelis with his staff reportedly warning the current Obama administration not to make any major move that could interfere with Trump’s future policies.

Israeli-Palestinian peace talks have been at a standstill for two years since US efforts led by Secretary of State John Kerry failed. The sides stopped consultations after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas forged an unexpected pact with Hamas, which Israel considers a terrorist organization.

Since then France and Russia have offered to host a new round of peace talks. While no decisions have been made to re-start negotiations, Donald Trump has promised to use his business wit to convince the conflicting parties to forge an agreement .... http://rinf.com

Israeli right-wing rushes to capitalise on Trump's election with minister declaring end to idea of Palestinian state

Israeli right-wing politicians rushed to capitalise on Donald Trump's election as US president on Wednesday, with one key minister even declaring an end to the idea of a Palestinian state.

Some government ministers also pushed for Trump to follow through on his controversial commitment to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital and to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv.

The move would break with decades of precedent and put Washington at odds with nearly all UN member states, illustrating concerns over the foreign policy consequences of Trump's victory .... http://www.dailymail.co.uk

Netanyahu congratulates 'true friend' of Israel

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu congratulated Donald Trump on his election as US president on Wednesday and called him "a true friend of the state of Israel."

"President-elect Trump is a true friend of the state of Israel, and I look forward to working with him to advance security, stability and peace in our region," the right-wing premier said in a statement.

"The ironclad bond between the United States and Israel is rooted in shared values, buttressed by shared interests and driven by a shared destiny .... http://www.dailymail.co.uk

World Leaders Pay Last Respects To Former President Peres At State Funeral

Over 70 world leaders attended the funeral of the late Peres.

U.S. President Barack Obama eulogized Peres, saying “I could not be more honored to be in Jerusalem to say farewell to my friend, to Shimon Peres, who showed us that justice and hope are at the heart of the Zionist idea.

“A free life in homeland regained, a secure life of a nation that can defend itself by itself, a full life of a friendship with nations who can be counted on as allies, always…. this was Shimon Peres’s life. This is the State of Israel. This is the story of the Jewish people .... http://www.haaretz.com

Abbas & Netanyahu exchange historic handshake at Peres funeral

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas shook hands and exchanged pleasantries at the funeral of former Israeli statesman Shimon Peres in Jerusalem on Friday.

Abbas greeted Netanyahu and his wife in the surprise move filmed and photographed by surrounding funeral attendees.

Netanyahu, leader of the Likud party, had not met Abbas face-to-face in six years and acknowledged the significance of his attendance, saying: "It's something that I appreciate very much on behalf of our people and on behalf of us." .... https://www.rt.com

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas to attend funeral of Israeli ex-president Peres

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas will attend the funeral of Israeli ex-president and Nobel Peace Prize winner Shimon Peres, Palestinian officials told AFP on Thursday, in what will be a rare visit to Jerusalem.

Several Palestinian officials confirmed his participation in Friday's funeral on condition of anonymity.

An Israeli defence ministry unit also said Abbas had asked for it to coordinate his participation .... http://www.businessinsider.com

Israeli ex-president Shimon Peres's death has met with official silence in most Arab countries

Mourned internationally as a peacemaker, Israeli ex-president Shimon Peres's death has met with official silence in most Arab countries, where public opinion vilified the Nobel laureate as a "war criminal".

Of the 21 Arab states, only two -- Egypt and Jordan -- have full diplomatic relations with Israel.

Even in those countries, the legacy of their destructive wars with Israel and its policies towards Palestinians continue to influence public opinion .... http://www.dailymail.co.uk