Leads in polls to take over from Olmert
New York Times Sep 17, 08 3:03 AM CDT
(Newser)
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The main party in Israel's coalition government is poised today to choose 50-year-old foreign minister Tzipi Livni as Kadima party leader and new prime minister. She'll have a matter of weeks to construct a new coalition government or risk an election defeat by the right-wing Likud party, reports the New York Times .
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Freed prisoners intended to shore up Fatah PM Abbas; some in Israel fuming
AFP Aug 25, 08 9:09 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Israel today released 198 Palestinian prisoners in an effort to bolster Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas, the AFP reports. The release, on the eve of a visit by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, included two prisoners held since the late 1970s who were convicted of murdering Israelis. One of them, a Fatah party member who killed an Israeli settler in Hebron, was elected to parliament in 2006.
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Abbas rejects plan, which doesn't include contiguous Palestine
Haaretz Aug 12, 08 11:26 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Ehud Olmert has presented Mahmoud Abbas with a plan to withdraw from most of the West Bank and all of the Gaza Strip once the Palestinian Authority retakes Gaza from Hamas. The centerpiece of the proposal is a new permanent border that would keep 7% of the West Bank in Israel in exchange for adding some territory to Gaza. Abbas immediately rejected the proposal because it doesn't create a contiguous Palestinian state, though it offers passage without checkpoints between the West Bank and Gaza.
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Israeli PM calls timeline for Palestinian pact 'unrealistic'
Financial Times (UK) Jul 28, 08 4:45 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Ehud Olmert said today it is "unrealistic" to expect a comprehensive Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement by the end of the year. The Israeli PM and Palestian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas pledged last year to make a deal by the end of 2008, and their inability to do so is a blow to President Bush's hopes for the situation to be resolved before he leaves office, reports the Financial Times .
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Candidate's Israel visit continues in meetings with Abbas, Olmert
Associated Press Jul 23, 08 12:45 PM CDT
(AP)
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Barack Obama waded into the thicket of Mideast politics today, siting down with Israeli and Palestinian leaders and visiting Sderot, an Israeli city near the Gaza border that's a frequent target of rocket attacks. If Iran were to obtain nuclear weapons, Obama said at a press conference, it would mark a "game-changing situation not only in the Middle East but around the world," he said. "America must always stand up for Israel's right to defend itself against those who threaten its people."
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ANALYSIS
Dem to meet key Jordanian, Palestinian, Israeli figures; street expects little change
New York Times Jul 22, 08 1:27 PM CDT
(Newser)
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With the war leg of his foreign tour behind him, Barack Obama must next navigate the Middle East peace process. He’ll meet with top Israeli and Palestinian leaders tomorrow, the New York Times reports, and will visit the rocket-bombarded town of Sderot. US Jewish voters will be particularly attentive after the Democrat’s recent slip over the status of Jerusalem.
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Israel, in particular, presents tricky schedule for Democrat
USA Today Jul 18, 08 5:50 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Barack Obama’s team released a few details about their candidate's trip abroad today, but the time frame remains tightly under wraps. Israel in particular presents a maze of meetings for the Democrat, who’ll see not only president Shimon Peres, but scandal-plagued prime minister Ehud Olmert and three potential replacements. Obama will also meet with the Palestinian president and prime minister, USA Today reports.
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Dem to meet Palestinian president in Ramallah
CNN Jul 14, 08 2:53 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Barack Obama will visit Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank next week, a top Palestinian official said today. The Ramallah meeting with the president of the Palestinian Authority will happen on July 23, CNN reports. Details on the international trip have been guarded, but the Times of London says Obama will touch down in London this Friday, continue to Israel, Jordan, Afghanistan and Iraq—and finish in France and Germany on the 24th and 25th.
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She warns against building 1,300 new units in Jerusalem
Associated Press Jun 15, 08 3:34 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Condoleezza Rice said today that Israeli settlement building is having a “negative effect” on Mideast peace talks, the AP reports. “It’s important to have an atmosphere of confidence and trust,” she said at a news conference with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. She warned against Israel’s plan to build 1,300 new housing units in east Jerusalem, which Palestine wants for its future capital.
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About-face signals frustration with Bush-led peace talks
New York Times Jun 5, 08 5:57 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas offered an unexpected olive branch to Hamas yesterday, reports the New York Times . Abbas, in control of only the West Bank since the Islamic militant group seized Gaza last year, said it was time for national unity talks aimed at forming a new government. The move could signal the total breakdown of faltering peace talks with Israel.
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OPINION
Involving Jordan would be key move in new pragmatism: Friedman
New York Times Jun 4, 08 3:26 PM CDT
(Newser)
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The distance to a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians grows longer by the day, Thomas Friedman laments in the New York Times , and involving Jordan is the best bet. He calls for “radical pragmatism” as “energetic as the extremism that it hopes to nullify.” Giving Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas land and trusting an Arab neighbor to control it—that is, insure that it isn't used for rocket attacks on Israel—would solidify legitimacy.
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