Obama urges Israel to end occupation in Palestine
The U.S. President Barack Obama urged Israel to end occupation in Palestinian territories in his farewell speech at the United Nations summit. "…Israel must recognize that it cannot permanently occupy and settle Palestinian land," President Obama said in a speech to the United Nations. "We all have to do better as leaders in tamping down, rather than encouraging, a notion of identity that leads us to diminish others," he added. The Obama administration has been dismayed by periodic comments by the Israeli leader suggesting he is less-than-serious about the two-state solution that has been the basis of all serious peace efforts for decades.
The United States President Barack Obama met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday as growing Israeli settlements were at the top of agenda. The Obama administration is worried about continued settlement activity and its effects on "the potential viability of a Palestinian state," said Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes on Tuesday.
The bilateral meeting in New York on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, likely the last between the leaders while Obama is in the White House, came amid soured relations between the countries following the Iran nuclear deal signed in 2015.
The United States and Israel inked an agreement last week worth 38 billion dollars in military aid over the next decade, sealing Israel's status as the leading recipient of US foreign military aid. The White House is hoping the unprecedented aid will curb the perception among Israel's supporters that Obama has been insufficiently supportive of the Jewish state.
Yet that point of agreement, reached after arduous negotiations, only partially masks the underlying tensions between the two governments — most notably over Israel's posture toward the Palestinians and continued expansion of settlements in occupied territories.
Despite Obama's protestations, since he took office Israel has pushed a wave of construction that matched or even exceeded the pace of building when George W. Bush was president, according to Israeli government data obtained by The Associated Press.
Previous efforts to broker Israeli-Palestinian peace have left a bad taste for the Obama administration, most notably a frenetic attempt by Secretary of State John Kerry that collapsed in 2014. Reluctant to invest more diplomatic resources at a time when he says both sides lack the needed political will, Obama has long since conceded that his administration won't be the one to forge a resolution to the Mideast conflict.
Netanyahu headed to New York at a time of renewed violence back home. Israeli forces have killed six alleged attackers just since the weekend. The bloodshed has raised fears that a year-old wave of violence could be heating up again after appearing to quiet down in recent months. Israel has blamed the violence on what it says is incitement by Palestinian leaders — a claim the Palestinians reject.
The United States President Barack Obama met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday as growing Israeli settlements were at the top of agenda. The Obama administration is worried about continued settlement activity and its effects on "the potential viability of a Palestinian state," said Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes on Tuesday.
The bilateral meeting in New York on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, likely the last between the leaders while Obama is in the White House, came amid soured relations between the countries following the Iran nuclear deal signed in 2015.
The United States and Israel inked an agreement last week worth 38 billion dollars in military aid over the next decade, sealing Israel's status as the leading recipient of US foreign military aid. The White House is hoping the unprecedented aid will curb the perception among Israel's supporters that Obama has been insufficiently supportive of the Jewish state.
Yet that point of agreement, reached after arduous negotiations, only partially masks the underlying tensions between the two governments — most notably over Israel's posture toward the Palestinians and continued expansion of settlements in occupied territories.
Despite Obama's protestations, since he took office Israel has pushed a wave of construction that matched or even exceeded the pace of building when George W. Bush was president, according to Israeli government data obtained by The Associated Press.
Previous efforts to broker Israeli-Palestinian peace have left a bad taste for the Obama administration, most notably a frenetic attempt by Secretary of State John Kerry that collapsed in 2014. Reluctant to invest more diplomatic resources at a time when he says both sides lack the needed political will, Obama has long since conceded that his administration won't be the one to forge a resolution to the Mideast conflict.
Netanyahu headed to New York at a time of renewed violence back home. Israeli forces have killed six alleged attackers just since the weekend. The bloodshed has raised fears that a year-old wave of violence could be heating up again after appearing to quiet down in recent months. Israel has blamed the violence on what it says is incitement by Palestinian leaders — a claim the Palestinians reject.
Last Update: September 21, 2016 22:11