via BBC News Israel says it will not give in to international pressure to halt plans for 3,000 new settler homes in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Israel would continue to stand by its “vital interests” and would not change its decision. The UK, France, Spain, Denmark and Sweden … Continue reading
via Aron Heller and Karin Laub, Associated Press Israel responded swiftly Friday to U.N. recognition of a Palestinian state, revealing it will build 3,000 more homes for Jews on Israeli-occupied lands that the world body overwhelmingly said belong to the Palestinians. The plans also include future construction in a strategic area of the West Bank … Continue reading
via BBC News The UN General Assembly has voted to grant the Palestinians non-member observer state status – a move opposed by Israel and the US. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told the assembly the vote was the “last chance to save the two-state solution” with Israel. Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Ron Prosor, said the … Continue reading
via Ariel Zirulnick, Christian Science Monitor Now that the exhumation and reburial of late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat is complete, the wait for results on cause of death begins. Suspicions that Israel poisoned him are widespread, and the results will put to rest eight years of questions about his rapid health deterioration and subsequent death. … Continue reading
The United States, Europe and the Middle East quartet are engaged in a last-ditch effort to set up a fresh round of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks in an attempt to head off a major diplomatic embarrassment over the looming Palestinian request for recognition of statehood at the UN. The US is leading diplomatic pressure on Israeli … Continue reading