With clock ticking, Palestinians pin hopes on Paris summit

After a pair of diplomatic victories, the Palestinians are now setting their sights on a Mideast peace conference in France next month in a bid to rally support as they prepare for the uncertainty of the Trump administration. The Palestinians are hopeful that a strong international endorsement in Paris will insulate them from what they fear will be a close alliance between President-elect Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Letter: U.S. veto an insult to Israel

Letter: U.S. veto an insult to Israel President Obama did not just "rebuke" Israel, but metaphorically spit in the face of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Check out this story on northjersey.com: http://northjersy.news/2iKOS85 When the United States abstained on United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334, President Barack Obama did not just "rebuke" Israel, but metaphorically spit in the face of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israelis and supporters of Israel everywhere.

Ministers clash over call to annex West Bank in wake of UN resolution

Housing Minister Yoav Galant and Education Minister Naftali Bennett at the cabinet meeting at PM Netanyahu's office in Jerusalem on June 7, 2015. Housing Minister Yoav Galant, from the center-right Kulanu party, rebuffed a call this week by Education Minister Naftali Bennett, who leads the pro-settler Jewish Home party, to annex the West Bank in the wake of a Security Council resolution last week denouncing settlements on territory claimed by the Palestinians for a future state, including East Jerusalem.

‘We see the hope of peace slipping away’; Relations between …

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.

In parting shot at Israel, Kerry warns Middle East peace in jeopardy

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Wednesday said Israel's building of settlements on occupied land was jeopardizing Middle East peace, voicing unusually frank frustration with America's longtime ally weeks before he is due to leave office. In a swiftly issued statement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Kerry of bias.

Thursday’s Morning Email: Putin Announces Cease-fire In Syria

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU THROWS HIS SUPPORT BEHIND DONALD TRUMP The Prime Minister of Israel called Secretary of State John Kerry's speech renouncing Israeli settlements " almost as unbalanced as the anti-Israel resolution passed at the U.N. last week." The top candidates for DNC have dodged the debate on where they stand on President Barack Obama's vetoing of the U.N. Israel resolution .

Why I Call BS On US Claims “Gang-Up On Israel” Meeting Never Took Place

The White House vehemently denied a report Wednesday morning claiming Secretary of State John Kerry and National Security Adviser Susan Rice discussed the controversial U.N. resolution condemning Israeli settlements with a top Palestinian official days before Friday's Security Council vote. An Egyptian news site first published what it claimed to be details of the meeting with Palestinian official Saeb Erekat and others.

Donald Trump credits impending administration for return of 8,000 jobs from Sprint

After weeks of giving only brief comments to the media, Donald Trump made a series of public statements Wednesday, applauding the return of 8,000 jobs to the U.S. and hailing his discussions with President Barack Obama. In one of his cameos on the front steps of his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, Trump touted plans by a Japanese mogul to bring those jobs to the United States.

Kerry Attacks Israeli Government, Defends UN Resolution

Lame-duck Secretary of State John Kerry blasted the Israeli government at the State Department on Wednesday, and attempted to defend the Obama administration's decision to let an anti-Israel resolution pass at the UN Security Council last week. Kerry delivered his remarks in the midst of a diplomatic fight with Israel, in which President Barack Obama stands accused of working with Palestinians secretly to undermine Israeli security, overturning decades of American foreign policy precedent in the process.

a CNN: – Missed the Mark’a

CNN's correspondent in Israel, Oren Liebermann , reported Wednesday that U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's speech at the State Department had "missed the mark" if Kerry's intent had been to reach Israeli viewers and convince them that lame duck President Barack Obama was serious about peace. Libermann reported from Jerusalem that none of the Israeli television networks had carried the speech live, though it was held during prime viewing time.

The Latest: Netanyahu’s office decries Kerry speech

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office is denouncing Secretary of State John Kerry's Mideast policy speech, saying it was "skewed against Israel" and "obsessively" focuses on Israeli settlements. In a statement, Netanyahu's office says the speech "barely touched upon the root of the conflict - Palestinian opposition to a Jewish state in any boundaries."

Israel says U.S. pushed for U.N. rebuke

This Oct. 22, 2016 file photo, shows a general view of housing in the Israeli settlement of Revava, near the West Bank city of Nablus. JERUSALEM -- Doubling down on its public break with the Obama administration, the Israeli government said Tuesday that it had received "ironclad" information from Arab sources that the United States actively helped craft last week's U.N. resolution declaring Israeli settlements in occupied territories illegal.

Israel Says It Has ‘Ironclad Information’ That the U.S. Was…

President Barack Obama speaks to members of the media as he meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Monday, Nov. 9, 2015. The president and prime minister sought to mend their fractured relationship during their meeting, the first time they have talked face to face in more than a year.

Israel expects more US-led moves at United Nations, official says

United States Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power, left, Secretary of State John Kerry, second from right, and National Advisor Susan Rice, right, listen while US President Barack Obama speaks during the 68th session of the General Assembly at United Nations headquarters. Israel expects more US-led maneuvers at the United Nations critical of the Jewish state, similar to the UN Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem which passed on Friday when the US refused to wield its veto power to nix it, and which Israel says the Obama administration orchestrated alongside the Palestinians.

John Kerry Will Lay Out Vision for Mideast Peace

Secretary of State John Kerry will lay out his vision for ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in a speech on Wednesday, days after the United States cleared the way for a U.N. resolution demanding an end to Israeli settlements. The speech, less than a month before President Barack Obama leaves office, is expected to be the administration's last word on a decades-old dispute that Kerry had hoped to resolve during his four years as America's top diplomat.