Obama to Meet With Palestinian Leader at UN

Orthodoxy vies with electability among party faithful

(NEWSER) - Herman Cain's surprise win in Florida's straw poll yesterday shows how unpredictable this election cycle is—but it also provides some valuable lessons about that state of the GOP nation, reports the St. Petersburg Times .

• The top GOP contender is still Not-Mitt-Romney: Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry—Republicans are still waiting for the great candidate who can lead them to the chosen land. All they know for now is that frontrunner Romney is not him. Next up ... Chris Christie? .
• It's too late for a new candidate: A major reason Perry imploded was that he just did not have enough time to get the infrastructure in place that he needed. Money, volunteers, the whole process takes way too much work to ramp up so late in the game. So maybe Christie is not an option, after all.

But Mahmoud Abbas not leaving peace talks yet

(NEWSER) - Bulldozers were already working to construct Jewish West Bank settlements this morning, after Israel’s construction freeze expired at midnight, but Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas did not immediately abandon the peace talks as he had threatened. Abbas will instead consult with Arab leaders and allow another week before making a decision, as the US continues working toward a compromise. Meanwhile, building of more than 50 new housing units has already begun, the Jerusalem Post reports. More»

Israeli PM calls Abbas his 'partner in peace'

(NEWSER) - President Obama told reporters he was "cautiously hopeful" as Mideast peace talks began in Washington yesterday. The president—flanked by the leaders of Israel, the Palestinian Authority, Egypt, and Jordan—urged the leaders to seize the opportunity to make a breakthrough, and vowed to do everything in his power to secure a lasting peace, the New York Times reports. The president earlier held one-on-one meetings with the leaders. More»

Administration 'turned gaffe into showdown'

(NEWSER) - Israel's announcement of settlement expansion in Jerusalem during Joe Biden's visit was lousy timing, but President Obama has turned this "gaffe" into a crisis, writes Charles Krauthammer. The Israelis did their best to smooth it over but the administration used the incident to tell Israel it had to show it was serious about peace, when Israel has never been anything but, Krauthammer argues in the Washington Post. More»

President meets with Netanyahu, Abbas, calls for progress on negotiations

(NEWSER) - President Obama urged Israeli and Palestinian leaders to restart peace talks, saying it was “time to move forward” on finding compromises to the contentious final status issues, the New York Times reports. Obama delivered his comments today after separate one-on-one meetings with Benjamin Netanyahu and Mahmoud Abbas and just before a meeting with both leaders together. More»