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General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: Americanhero1 on September 04, 2009, 04:48:04 PM

Title: US harshly rebukes Israel on settlement plans
Post by: Americanhero1 on September 04, 2009, 04:48:04 PM: WASHINGTON – Alarmed by Israeli plans to build new housing units in settlements and dimming prospects for American peace efforts, the Obama administration on Friday put out a rare and harsh public rebuke of its main Mideast ally.

The White House said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's settlement plans were "inconsistent" with commitments the Jewish state has made previously and harmful to U.S. attempts to lay the groundwork for a resumption in peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.

"United States does not accept the legitimacy of continued settlement expansion and we urge that it stop," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said in a statement. "We are working to create a climate in which negotiations can take place, and such actions make it harder to create such a climate."

Netanyahu's aides, speaking on condition of anonymity Friday because the plans have not been formally announced, said any Israeli settlement freeze would not halt building the new units and or block completion of some 2,500 others currently under construction. They also said the freeze would not include east Jerusalem, which the Palestinians hope to make their future capital.

The unusually blunt White House criticism reflected the administration's growing frustration with Netanyahu, whose decision would approve hundreds of new housing units in West Bank settlements before considering even a temporary freeze in construction, as President Barack Obama has requested.

The White House typically refrains from commenting on such moves until they are formally announced. But in this case, U.S. officials said they acted because Mideast peace envoy George Mitchell had already been briefed on the Israeli plans earlier in the week.

State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said Mitchell and the Israelis had been having "a very open dialogue" in "very intense discussions." He would not elaborate.

But one U.S. official familiar with Mitchell's Wednesday meeting in New York with Netanyahu envoy Yitzhak Molcho and Israeli Defense Ministry chief of staff Michael Herzog said the Israelis "told Mitchell they were going to do it and he told them they could expect a sharp response."

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive diplomatic exchange, said the meeting had "not gone well."

The official added that the White House statement was released before a formal Israeli announcement of Netanyahu's plans because "we wanted to send a strong signal early on."

Publicly, the State Department had described Mitchell's discussion with the Israeli delegation — which came after his talks with Netanyahu a week earlier in London — as a "good meeting."

The department said Mitchell would travel again to the Middle East next week to follow up. That trip is still on, officials said Friday.

"The process will continue," said one. The official also noted that the statement was not entirely negative and expressed appreciation for "Israel's stated intent to place limits on settlement activity."

"We are working with all parties — Israelis, Palestinians, and Arab states — on the steps they must take to achieve that objective," said Gibbs.

Netanyahu's refusal to bend on the settlement issue despite repeated U.S. appeals threatens to damage Obama's credibility in the Arab world. The administration is counting on Arab support for a resumption in Israeli-Palestinian negotiations but will not likely get it unless Netanyahu makes concessions on settlements.

The Palestinians have said they will not sit down for talks unless there is a settlement freeze and Arab leaders have made similar demands.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090904/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_us_israel
Title: Re: US harshly rebukes Israel on settlement plans
Post by: arksis on September 05, 2009, 09:06:39 PM: :dance: :dance: :dance: I love it! Netanyahu is doing the same thing I would do. "Sure President Obamass, I will stop building settlements" and build them anyway! I love it!
Title: Re: US harshly rebukes Israel on settlement plans
Post by: The One and Only Mo on September 05, 2009, 09:23:01 PM: buckle up because this going to be a bumpy,wild ride.
Title: Re: US harshly rebukes Israel on settlement plans
Post by: Lewinsky Stinks, Dr. Brennan Rocks on September 05, 2009, 09:43:15 PM: Trust me, this is all bluster on the part of Lewinsky. He will fold like a piece of origami. HAYAMIN is the answer, not Lewinsky.
Title: Re: US harshly rebukes Israel on settlement plans
Post by: The One and Only Mo on September 06, 2009, 02:11:26 PM: Quote from: Bonesfan on September 05, 2009, 09:43:15 PM
Trust me, this is all bluster on the part of Lewinsky. He will fold like a piece of origami. HAYAMIN is the answer, not Lewinsky.

Is a Lewinsky ever and answer? ;D
Title: Re: US harshly rebukes Israel on settlement plans
Post by: Lewinsky Stinks, Dr. Brennan Rocks on September 06, 2009, 02:15:56 PM: Quote from: Mo2388 on September 06, 2009, 02:11:26 PM
Is a Lewinsky ever and answer? ;D
?
Title: Re: US harshly rebukes Israel on settlement plans
Post by: muman613 on September 06, 2009, 02:48:54 PM: (http://farm1.static.flickr.com/111/262200322_ba14839c48.jpg)
Talk to the Hand!
Title: Re: US harshly rebukes Israel on settlement plans
Post by: The One and Only Mo on September 06, 2009, 02:54:37 PM: Quote from: muman613 on September 06, 2009, 02:48:54 PM

(http://farm1.static.flickr.com/111/262200322_ba14839c48.jpg)
Talk to the Hand!

For a sec I thought it was a middle finger
Title: Re: US harshly rebukes Israel on settlement plans
Post by: muman613 on September 06, 2009, 03:01:32 PM: Quote from: Mo2388 on September 06, 2009, 02:54:37 PM

<snip>

For a sec I thought it was a middle finger

(http://wooster.info/sharing/canon.fans.biz/Talk%20to%20the%20Hand%202.jpg)

No, it's a common 'slanguage' term for "Im not interested in what you have to say, just talk to my hand nebuch!"
Title: Re: US harshly rebukes Israel on settlement plans
Post by: The One and Only Mo on September 06, 2009, 03:04:37 PM: nice.
Title: Re: US harshly rebukes Israel on settlement plans
Post by: muman613 on September 06, 2009, 03:07:29 PM: Quote from: Mo2388 on September 06, 2009, 03:04:37 PM
nice.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk_to_the_hand_(expression)
Title: Re: US harshly rebukes Israel on settlement plans
Post by: The One and Only Mo on September 06, 2009, 03:11:28 PM: Quote from: muman613 on September 06, 2009, 03:07:29 PM
Quote from: Mo2388 on September 06, 2009, 03:04:37 PM
nice.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk_to_the_hand_(expression)

Yes I know what that means.
Title: Re: US harshly rebukes Israel on settlement plans
Post by: muman613 on September 06, 2009, 05:38:46 PM: Quote from: Mo2388 on September 05, 2009, 09:23:01 PM
buckle up because this going to be a bumpy,wild ride.

Hey Mo2388!!!

You said this as a message to me, who you know listens to Matisyahu lyrics...

In the song "So Hi, So Low" are the lyrics...

"Buckle up, it's gonna be a bumpy ride! No, its' gonna be a bumpy ride..."

I was listening to this song this afternoon and started to giggle to myself because I remembered that you wrote it here...

Thanks for the memory...

Quote
2nd Stanza

Why not give up buck up drop down why not lie down and never wake up give in Give up and don't get up give in to the ground who gives a
She is frozen in time behind the enemy lines in the night time she stares down The highway which way's the right way walking through this world on a tight Rope of memory the door swings both ways in and out in and outside so buckle Up it's gonna be a bumpy ride no
Its gonna be a bumpy ride no

Chorus:
So high so low I don't know where but we got to got to go there
So high so low I don't know where but we got to got to go there got to go there

http://www.tsrocks.com/m/matisyahu_texts/so_high_so_low.html
Title: Re: US harshly rebukes Israel on settlement plans
Post by: דוד בן זאב אריה on September 06, 2009, 05:41:24 PM: Obama is going all Ape [censored] over 500 housing units.
Title: Re: US harshly rebukes Israel on settlement plans
Post by: muman613 on September 06, 2009, 05:46:55 PM: Quote from: דוד בן זאב אריה on September 06, 2009, 05:41:24 PM
Obama is going all Ape drek over 500 housing units.

Obama must be rolling in his coffin, {oops I meant bed}...
Title: Re: US harshly rebukes Israel on settlement plans
Post by: The One and Only Mo on September 06, 2009, 06:16:47 PM: Quote from: muman613 on September 06, 2009, 05:46:55 PM
Quote from: דוד בן זאב אריה on September 06, 2009, 05:41:24 PM
Obama is going all Ape drek over 500 housing units.

Obama must be rolling in his coffin, {oops I meant bed}...

;D