Obama to Israeli, Palestinian Leaders: Get to Work

He'll also meet with Netanyahu as Perry, Romney hammer policies

(NEWSER) - If there is indeed a deal in the works to postpone a US-Palestinian showdown on statehood, the two leaders will get to hash it out in person. President Obama will meet Mahmoud Abbas at the UN tomorrow, the AP reports. Obama will meet separately with Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu. Meanwhile, sources tell Haaretz that votes on statehood in the Security Council and General Assembly are likely to be postponed for weeks or longer, presumably so negotiators can resume peace talks. More»

President left isolated after Netanyahu's hero's welcome

(NEWSER) - Top Democrats are making a show of standing behind Benjamin Netanyahu in his sort-of face-off with the White House, leaving President Obama more or less isolated, the Washington Post reports. In his own speech before AIPAC, Harry Reid offered a thinly-veiled jab at President Obama’s calls for a two-state solution based on Israel’s pre-1967 borders, saying, “No one should set premature parameters about borders, about building or about anything else.” More»

Most still see him as fair, friendly despite diplomatic row

(NEWSER) - The recent diplomatic kerfluffle over East Jerusalem hasn’t hurt President Obama at all with Israelis; in a new Haaretz-Dialog poll , a “sweeping majority” say they still believe he is “fair and friendly” to Israel. Most don’t believe politicians who try to paint Obama as anti-Semitic, anti-Israel, or anti-Benjamin Netanyahu. The poll was conducted Tuesday and Wednesday, amid the media hubbub over the construction fight. 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»

(AP) - President Obama will host a meeting Tuesday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in an effort to lay the groundwork for renewed negotiations on Mideast peace. The three-way meeting, which will be on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly forum, will take place immediately after Obama meets separately with each of the two leaders. More»