Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday rejected Western and Arab complaints that the planned construction of 1,100 new homes in Gilo on annexed land close to Jerusalem would complicate Middle East peace efforts.
Israel approved on Tuesday the construction of 1,100 settlement homes on annexed land in the West Bank, complicating global efforts to renew peace talks and defuse a crisis over a Palestinian statehood bid at the United Nations.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\’s popularity has climbed in Israel after a hard-hitting speech at the United Nations opposing a Palestinian bid for statehood, an opinion poll showed on Monday.
The United Nations Security Council is scheduled to discuss the Palestinian bid for statehood.
Israeli police arrested a Hamas lawmaker on Monday who had been sheltering for more than a year in the International Red Cross (ICRC) offices in East Jerusalem, a police spokesman said.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas repeated on Sunday his refusal to talk with Israel without a settlement freeze after international mediators, responding to his United Nations bid for statehood, urged negotiations within a month.
In the lead-up to the Palestinian application for full membership in the United Nations later this week, we can expect nation after nation to vilify the Jewish state and to walk out when Prime Minister Netanyahu takes the microphone.
Mahmoud Abbas outlined a vision for an independent Palestine that hewed to the two-state formula but also revived rhetoric that hearkened back to an era of Palestinian belligerence.
Israelis reacted coolly on Friday to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas\’s quest for statehood recognition, and some said his impassioned speech at the United Nations had only succeeded in harming the chances of peace.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused the Palestinians of wanting statehood without peace.
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