Israeli peace activists are planning to ratchet up their campaign against groups in the United States that raise money for settlers by highlighting how tax exemptions are helping to fund the expansion of illegal settlements in the West Bank. Gush Shalom, a small peace group that advocates Israel’s withdrawal from the occupied territories, is preparing …
Continue reading “Israeli Peace Group Targets Settlements’ Charitable Status in US”
The White House reprimanded the Israeli government Friday over reports that Israel plans to build hundreds of new housing units in West Bank settlements, the latest in a series of showdowns between Washington and Jerusalem over settlement construction. The new construction plans represent a direct challenge to the Barack Obama administration’s Middle East peace plans, …
Continue reading “New Israeli Settlements Plan Heightens Tensions”
Uri Avnery urges Obama to stand firm
As the clash between the U.S. and Israeli governments over settlements in the occupied territories intensifies, many of Israel’s traditionally staunch defenders in Washington have been pushing back, tentatively but with increasing assertiveness, to urge the Barack Obama administration to alleviate its pressure on Israel. The settlements battle has put these defenders in a delicate …
Continue reading “Pro-Israel Groups Push Back Against Settlements Policy”
JERUSALEM — Israel’s newly installed ambassador in Washington says the "disagreement" with the U.S. over Israel’s settlement policy will be resolved "soon." Speaking on Israel Radio, Michael Oren was giving his first interview since taking up his post. His upbeat assessment is challenged by many other Israeli officials and by most political pundits who foresee …
Continue reading “Defiant Netanyahu Plays His Jerusalem Card”
No one would have been more surprised than Fawziya Khurd by the recent pronouncement of Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, that Israel operates an "open city" policy in Jerusalem. Mr Netanyahu told his cabinet on Sunday that Israel’s annexation of East Jerusalem following the 1967 war — what he called the city’s "unification" — …
Continue reading “The Reality of Israel’s ‘Open’ Jerusalem”
RAMALLAH — The northern Palestinian West Bank is turning into a flashpoint as Israeli settlers continue to attack Palestinian civilians and their property as part of a "price tag" policy. On Tuesday Walid Assaf, a Palestinian Legislative Council member, was injured after Israeli settlers near the northern West Bank city Qalqilya threw a rock through …
Continue reading “Rampaging Settlers Shatter Fragile Calm”
Are Netanyahu and Obama headed for a clash? By Ira Glunts
RAMALLAH – The Israeli Foreign Ministry’s concern over an "unusually harsh statement" by the European Commission over Israel’s settlement policy indicates a growing unease between Israel and the EU. The European Commission (EC), the executive arm of the EU, said that Israel’s settlement policy in the West Bank was strangling the Palestinian economy and forcing …
Continue reading “Israel and EU Clash Over Settlements”
William Pfaff on the only way to peace
