John Kerry: US considers Israeli settlements to be 'illegal'

John Kerry: US considers Israeli settlements to be 'illegal'(Jpost).

BETHLEHEM - US Secretary of State John Kerry urged Israel on Wednesday to limit settlement building, an issue that is weighing on Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

Friction over the talks has risen this past week on the back of Israeli plans, announced in tandem with its release of 26 Palestinian prisoners, for some 3,500 new homes for settlers in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.

"Let me emphasize at this point the position of the United States of America on the settlements is that we consider them... to be illegitimate," Kerry said after discussions with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Kerry made the comments in responding to Palestinian frustration over Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank and stressed that "at no time" did the Palestinians agree to accept the settlements as a part of a negotiated peace accord.

Kerry, faced with grim Israeli and Palestinian assessments of progress in peace talks, said on Wednesday that Washington was not giving up on a deal.

"As in any negotiation there will be moments of up and moments of down, and it goes back and forth," Kerry said in Bethlehem, in the West Bank, where he met Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

"But I can tell you that President Obama and I are determined, and neither of us will stop in our efforts to pursue the possibility (of peace)," he said.Hmmm......Israel's 'Staunchest allies'.Read the full story here.

An end in sight for Mere State-Building In Palestine?

An end in sight for Mere State-Building In Palestine?HT: EliotAbrams.

How can a Palestinian state be built? For those who believe that the “two-state outcome” is important, and this includes the governments of Europe and the United States, that’s a critical question. Former prime minister Salam Fayyad had an answer: start building, now, under the Israeli occupation, despite the occupation, against the occupation. Get ready for independence step by step.
We now have an important European view, from the foreign minister of Norway–which chairs the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee, the key donors’ organization for the Palestinian efforts. Espen Barth Eide is quoted as follows in the Jerusalem Post:

“The donors will not be ready to keep funding Palestinian state-building much longer if we are not seeing a political horizon,” said Eide. Eide said it was important for both sides to know – as they have just restarted negotiations – that the world was not willing to provide a blank check.
“I think this is important for the Palestinians to know, because if anyone there thought they could sort of just fall back to the comfort of an internationally subsidized state-building endeavor, that may be wrong,” he said in an interview. “And I think that it is important for some people on the Israeli side – living in reasonable comfort [given] that cooperation with the pseudo-state in the West Bank is quite good – to know that this cannot continue forever.”

That is an extraordinary statement, and should not pass without notice. What he derides as “falling back into the comfort of an internationally subsidized state-building effort” is in fact the greatest challenge facing Palestinians now, and one they have not met. Nor have donors– Arab, American, European– met the challenge of providing adequate political and financial support for state-building, focusing instead for decades on repeated failed efforts at leaping to final status agreements. Those efforts have produced little for Palestinians, while state-building efforts can offer them pragmatic gains and real improvement in their lives–and can show Israelis that their security needs can be met in an independent Palestine.

Put another way, Eide continues the failed policy of wanting to create a Palestine whose borders might be known– before we have any idea what will be within those borders: failed state or successful economy? Democracy or terrorist base? This has not worked and will never work. To find that the chairman of the donors’ committee now dismisses mere state-building as an activity not worth supporting in its own right suggests that nothing has been learned from the experience of recent decades.

Iran planning terror terror attacks during Obama's visit to Israel?

Iran planning terror terror attacks during Obama's visit to Israel?HT: IsraelMatzav.(WND).World Net Daily is reporting that Iran is planning to welcome President Obama to Israel with a bang.
The officials stressed there is no known threat against Obama himself or any U.S. targets.
Rather, Islamic Jihad is planning for possible attacks within the West Bank as well as inside major Israeli cities before and after Obama’s trip, said the officials.
The officials fear Iran is trying to disrupt planned Israeli-Palestinian dialogue aimed at creating a Palestinian Authority-led state. Obama’s visit is ostensibly aimed, among other things, at restarting these long stalled negotiations.
Since Hamas itself does not oppose the talks, Iran must reach out to Islamic Jihad, largely funded by Tehran, to carry out any attacks, said the officials.
Based on this information, PA security forces working with Israeli security agencies have been leading a major campaign in recent days to minimize Islamic Jihad cells in Jenin and surrounding villages, said the officials.
WND is also reporting that the Obama administration is backing Hamas-Fatah unity talks and coordinating with Tzipi Livni (whom they apparently expect to be part of Netanyahu's new government) and Haim Ramon.Hmmmm......"From Iran With love?"Read the full story here.