If his nomination is confirmed, Gottlieb, 44, will oversee America’s largest regulator of medical and consumer products. He served as an FDA deputy commissioner during the George W. Bush administration.
Category: Palestinian Territories
The West Bank settlement with close ties to Trump’s Israel envoy
Nearly 6,000 miles separate Washington D.C. from Beit El, an Israeli settlement in the West Bank, and yet the two have never been closer. A direct connection runs between the White House and this small religious community perched on a windswept hill, near Palestinian communities.
Thomas Friedman: Israeli-Palestinian conflict isn’t improving
First you were tested by a rival – Russia – and utterly failed to appreciate the corrosive impact on our democracy of your indulgence of Russia’s hacking our election. And on Wednesday you’re going to be tested by a friend – Israel – and its prime minister, Bibi Netanyahu.
Ex-officials: Israeli leader spurned secret peace offer
Israel’s prime minister turned down a regional peace initiative last year that was brokered by then-U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, former American officials confirmed Sunday, in apparent contradiction to Benjamin Netanyahu’s stated goal of involving regional Arab powers in resolving Israel’s conflict with the Palestinians. Netanyahu took part in a secret summit that Kerry organized in the southern Jordanian port city of Aqaba last February and included Jordan’s King Abdullah II and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi.
Ex-officials: Israeli leader spurned secret peace offer
Israel’s prime minister turned down a regional peace initiative last year that was brokered by then-U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, former American officials confirmed Sunday, in apparent contradiction to Benjamin Netanyahu’s stated goal of involving regional Arab powers in resolving Israel’s conflict with the Palestinians. Netanyahu took part in a secret summit that Kerry organized in the southern Jordanian port city of Aqaba last February and included Jordan’s King Abdullah II and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi.
February 20, 2017: Seeking a solution
Seeking a solution With regard to “Did Trump nix the 2-state solution?” , the assertion that then-president Bill Clinton “wed the Israelis and Palestinians to the notion that the only resolution to the conflict is a two-state solution” flies in the face of historical factuality. The 1993 Oslo Accords did not require a sovereign Palestinian-Arab entity.
Donald Trump Doesn’t Care if Israel and the Palestinians Make Peace
With an off-hand remark, the president indicates the status quo of U.S.-supported Israeli occupation is fine with him. We’ve long known that President Donald Trump has no filter, yet his every utterance now carries the weight of U.S. policy behind it.
Why Arab Autocrats Haven’t Confronted Trump
You’d think, given the harsh anti-Muslim Trump administration in Washington, that the Arab kings and dictators would be lining up to condemn the ruthless sectarian laws being drawn up by an American President who approves of torture. All that claptrap about “bad dudes” and “Islamic terror”.
Is Trump Heading Down the Rabbit Hole of Middle East Peace?by…
President Trump is predisposed to reverse most of his predecessor’s policies, so President Obama’s least favorite foreign leader is bound to receive a warmer welcome than he is used to. But in the last week, the noises coming out of both the White House and the State Department have indicated that, as was the case with all of his predecessors, there is going to be a considerable gap between Trump’s campaign rhetoric about Israel and the policies that he will actually pursue.
Netanyahu pledges to promote ‘responsible policies’ at Trump meeting
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday he would present “responsible policies” in talks with U.S. President Donald Trump, signaling to the Israeli far-right to curb its territorial demands in the occupied West Bank. Netanyahu leaves for Washington on Monday and will see Trump at the White House on Wednesday for their first meeting since the Republican’s inauguration last month, with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and policy toward Iran on the agenda.
US opposes Palestinian’s appointment to top UN post
The Trump administration opposed the appointment of a senior Palestinian leader for a top United Nations post Friday over concern that the move would boost the Palestinian cause at the world body. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres sent a letter to the Ukraine ambassador, who serves as president of the Security Council, informing the council of his intention to appoint former Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad to be his special representative for Libya, according a copy of the letter shown to CNN.
Israeli groups sue to stop law legalizing settlement homes
In the first concrete attempt to counter the contentious new law legalizing thousands of West Bank settlement homes, two Israeli rights groups on Wednesday asked the country’s Supreme Court to overturn the measure. Adalah and the Jerusalem Legal Aid and Human Rights Center appealed to the high court, asking it to block implementation of the bill passed in parliament this week that sets out to legalize dozens of settler outposts built on privately owned Palestinian land.
Mixed Signals: Now, White House Says Israeli Settlement Building May Not Help Peace
The tone was more measured than previous pro-Israel announcements, but did not go so far as to condemn settlement activity. The Trump administration said on Thursday that Israel’s building of new settlements or expansion of existing ones in occupied territories may not be helpful in achieving peace with Palestinians, adopting a more measured tone than its previous pro-Israel announcements.
Israeli settler group shrugs off White House criticism
Israeli settlers on Friday shrugged off White House criticism of settlement construction, convinced they have the sympathies of President Donald Trump. The Palestinians, still wary of Trump, warned that the settlers’ hard-line stance could spell the end to a two-state solution to the conflict.
Trump moves toward a tougher line on Israeli settlements
President Donald Trump is warning Israel that constructing new settlements “may not be helpful” to Middle East peace efforts, shifting toward a tougher line with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government. Still, the White House made clear Thursday that the Trump administration “has not taken an official position on settlement activity,” departing from previous administrations that have considered the settlements illegitimate.
In shift, Trump warns Israel against new settlements
President Donald Trump on Thursday warned Israel that constructing new settlements “may not be helpful” to Middle East peace efforts, shifting toward a tougher line with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ‘s government. Still, the White House made clear that the Trump administration “has not taken an official position on settlement activity,” departing from previous administrations that have considered the settlements illegitimate.
Eviction of Israeli settlers from illegal outpost sparks violence
Israeli policemen remove a pro-settlement activist during an operation by Israeli forces to evict settlers from the illegal outpost of Amona in the occupied West Bank on February 1, 2017. Photo – Reuters Israeli policemen remove a pro-settlement activist during an operation by Israeli forces to evict settlers from the illegal outpost of Amona in the occupied West Bank on February 1, 2017.
US quietly sent $221M to Palestinians in Obama’s last hours
Officials said Monday that the Obama administration– in its waning hours– defied Republican opposition and quietly released $221 million to the Palestinian Authority that GOP members of Congress had been blocking. A State Department official and several congressional aides told The Associated Press that the outgoing administration formally notified Congress it would spend the money Friday morning.
Israel delays annexation vote
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday delayed a vote on a proposal to annex one of the West Bank’s largest settlements, a move that gives him time to coordinate his policy toward the Palestinians with the new administration of U.S. President Donald Trump. Education Minister Naftali Bennett, leader of the pro-settlement Jewish Home Party, has been pushing Netanyahu to abandon the idea of a Palestinian state and to annex the Maaleh Adumim settlement near Jerusalem.
Trump, Israeli Prime Minister to discuss Iran nuke deal
Trump and Israeli Prime Minister set to speak two days after the inauguration as the state takes advantage of US support by approving settlement plans Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will speak by phone Sunday for the first time since Trump’s inauguration U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will speak Sunday for the first time since Trump’s inauguration, with Israel already taking advantage of his support by pushing through settlement plans. ‘A telephone conversation will be held this evening between President Trump and me.
Israeli leader delays West Bank annexation vote
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delayed a vote Sunday on an explosive proposal to annex one of the West Bank’s largest settlements, apparently to coordinate his policy toward the Palestinians with the new administration of President Donald Trump. The move put on hold legislation that threatens to unleash fresh violence and damage already faded hopes for Palestinian independence.
Haley slams Obama for not blocking UN measure against Israel
South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley assailed the Obama administration on Wednesday for failing to block a U.N. Security Council resolution that condemned Israel’s settlements in east Jerusalem and the West Bank.
Top Palestinian Official: Congress Limited in Push Back to U.N. Resolution
Congress has limited options for responding to a United Nations Security Council resolution critical of Israel, according to a top Palestinian official who spoke to THE WEEKLY STANDARD. The remarks from Maen Areikat, the chief representative of the Palestine Liberation Organization in the United States, came as lawmakers rolled out legislation in the aftermath of the December resolution, which describes the West Bank and east Jerusalem as occupied Palestinian territory and condemns Israeli construction in those areas.
Obama says U.N. vote didn’t rupture U.S.-Israel relations
U.S. President Barack Obama played down fallout from a U.S. abstention on a United Nations resolution last month demanding an end to Israeli settlements in occupied territory, saying it did not trigger a significant break in relations with Israel. Relations between the United States and Israel, which have soured during Obama’s eight years in office, reached a low point late last month when Washington, defying pressure from longtime ally Israel and President-elect Donald Trump, declined to veto the U.N. resolution.
Top Cabinet nominees Tillerson, Mattis contradict Trump’s foreign policy
Toughness with Russia and China, support of the Iran nuclear deal, the quest for a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: Donald Trump’s diplomacy and military picks have outlined the incoming administration’s foreign policy in Senate confirmation hearings this week. And on many strategic issues, in particular the president-elect’s desire for improved ties with Russia, Rex Tillerson, the former head of ExxonMobil chosen for secretary of state, and James Mattis, the retired U.S. Marine Corps general chosen as defense secretary, contradicted Trump in the hearings Wednesday and Thursday.
Palestinians await Israeli outpost’s evacuation
Once planted with tomatoes, cucumbers and okra, the wind-swept hilltop now hosts the white trailer homes of an Israeli settlement outpost that took root more than 20 years ago. Now, Abdel-Kareem and other Palestinian landowners are set to reclaim the property they watched stripped from them, hoping to finally put to rest a bitter, years-long legal saga on Feb. 8 – the latest court-ordered deadline for the evacuation of the Amona outpost.
This is the moment for an Israeli victory Prof. Daniel Pipes
Daniel Pipes is president and founder of the Middle East Forum, author of 12 books, several books, president of the Middle East Forum, is considered one of the world’s foremost analysts on the Middle East and Muslim history. He warned of militant Islam’s war with the USA years before 9.11 and called Arafat’s bluff at Oslo.
Israel Cuts $6 Million to UN Over Settlement Vote
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a statement in front of a new construction, in the Jewish settlement known to Israelis as Har Homa and to Palestinians as Jabal Abu Ghneim, March 16, 2015 Israel says it is withholding about $6 million from its annual United Nations dues, following a U.N. Security Council resolution last month calling for an end to Israel’s “settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory.” The United States abstained from voting on the measure, opening the way for the other 14 members of the Council to unanimously pass the resolution.
France ‘not planning’ UNSC resolution
France is not secretly planning a UN Security Council resolution on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict after a major conference in Paris this month, the president of the French Senate said Thursday. Gerard Larcher said he was not aware of any country working on a resolution to put before the Council between the January 15 meeting and the inauguration of Donald Trump as US president on January 20. Speaking to the press in Jerusalem at the end of a four-day visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories, Larcher said that many Israeli interlocutors had expressed fear France would try to translate the outcome of the conference into a UN resolution.
Thomas L. Friedman: Netanyahu Makes Trump His Chump
For those of you confused over the latest fight between President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu of Israel, let me make it simple: Barack Obama and John Kerry admire and want to preserve Israel as a Jewish and democratic state in the Land of Israel. I have covered this issue my entire adult life and have never met two U.S. leaders more committed to Israel as a Jewish democracy.
Netanyahu’s Settlement Expansions Create International Tensions
Donald Trump has a new best friend. “President-elect Trump, thank you for your warm friendship and your clear-cut support of Israel,” gushed Bibi Netanyahu, after he berated John Kerry in a fashion that would once have resulted in a rupture of diplomatic relations.
Continue reading Netanyahu makes Trump his chump
For those of you confused over the latest fight between President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu of Israel, let me make it simple: Barack Obama and John Kerry admire and want to preserve Israel as a Jewish and democratic state in the Land of Israel. I have covered this issue my entire adult life and have never met two U.S. leaders more committed to Israel as a Jewish democracy.
Israel and the damage done by Obama
In this Nov. 9, 2015, file photo, President Barack Obama meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office of the White House. The audience – overwhelmingly Jewish, passionately pro-Israel and supremely gullible – applauded wildly.
What the UNSC resolution means for the US and Israel
The United Nations Security Council on Friday passed a resolution condemning Israel’s settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The United States abstained on the resolution, allowing it to pass, rather than vetoing it — as it usually does with resolutions it sees as overly critical of Israel.
What the UNSC resolution means for the US and Israel
The United Nations Security Council on Friday passed a resolution condemning Israel’s settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The United States abstained on the resolution, allowing it to pass, rather than vetoing it — as it usually does with resolutions it sees as overly critical of Israel.
Relations between Obama, Netanyahu camps hit rock bottom
It took eight years of backbiting and pretending they got along for relations between President Barack Obama’s administration and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to finally hit rock bottom. Though they’ve clashed bitterly before, mostly notably over Iran, the two governments seemed farther apart than ever after a speech Wednesday by Secretary of State John Kerry and last week’s United Nations resolution.
Netanyahu Obama and the UN
By Gwynne Dyer Israel’s Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is very, very cross about last Friday’s United Nations Security Council resolution condemning the creation of illegal Jewish settlements all over the occupied West Bank and in East Jerusalem. He called in the ambassadors of all the Western countries that voted for the resolution to tell them off: Britain, France, Spain, even New Zealand.
Israeli PM calls Kerry speech a ‘deep disappointment’
Israel’s prime minister decried Secretary of State John Kerry’s Mideast policy speech as a “deep disappointment” on Wednesday and vowed to work with the incoming Trump administration to contain the fallout from last week’s U.N. resolution calling Israeli settlements illegal. Netanyahu’s angry statement, delivered at a late-night news conference shortly after Kerry’s address, capped a tumultuous week in which years of tense relations with President Barack Obama boiled over.
AIPAC: Kerry tried to defend the indefensible
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee , the pro-Israel lobby in the United States, on Wednesday criticized Secretary of State John Kerry’s speech on the Middle East , saying it was “a failed attempt to defend the indefensible.” “Contrary to Secretary of State Kerry’s address today, the United Nations Security Council resolution that the administration unconscionably failed to block was unfair, unbalanced and represented a profound departure from the policies of previous Democratic and Republican administrations for nearly the past forty years.
The Latest: Dems offer mixed reactions to Israel speech
Democratic lawmakers are offering mixed reactions to Secretary of State John Kerry’s speech deploring Israeli settlement-building and defending the U.S. move not to veto a controversial U.N. resolution. Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York says his former Senate colleague “seems to have forgotten the history off settlements in Gaza” and warns Kerry’s speech may have “emboldened extremists on both sides.”