The Palestinian Authority’s unanimous refusal Monday to recognize Israel as a Jewish state must not be permitted to impact the current US push for an Israeli-Palestinian framework agreement, according to State Department Spokesman Jennifer Psaki. Such an agreement, now being pushed
On Sunday, the Arab League rejected Israel’s demand that Palestinians recognize it as the “Jewish state,” backing up Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s insistence he would never agree to those terms. In doing so, the Arab League not only ended
During Saturday night’s annual Gridiron Club event, two high-profile Democrats — John Kerry and Charlie Crist — took vicious swipes at CNN, the third-place cable news channel currently suffering a noticeable ratings and quality collapse under the leadership of CNN
The U.S. State Department does not consider it necessary for Palestinians to recognize Israel as a Jewish State, said spokesperson Jen Psaki, according to an interview in the Palestinian daily newspaper Al-Quds Saturday. “Our position is that Israel is a
US Secretary of State John Kerry has called on American ambassadors around the world to make the fight against climate change a top priority ahead of new UN talks next year. In his first department-wide policy guidance statement since taking
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is rejecting a key demand of the United States and Israel as part of ongoing peace talks that would lead to the creation of a Palestinian state. “They are pressing and saying, ‘no peace without the Jewish
RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said there is “no way” he will recognize Israel as a Jewish state and accept a Palestinian capital in just a portion of Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, rebuffing what Palestinians fear will
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Hugo Chavez always said his socialist project would last decades, but a year after the Venezuelan president’s death even some of his most fervent supporters are having their doubts. The desperation of Venezuelans is growing along
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) convened its annual Policy Conference from March 2-4. Below is a general synopsis highlighting 5 key points from the conference. 1. Two-State or Bust Of the dozens of expert panels throughout the 3-day conference, none
Secretary of State John Kerry has cited the declining Russian stock market and the sliding ruble as examples of the costs the Kremlin is paying for moving Russian forces into Ukraine. But some in Moscow are asserting that the crisis
WASHINGTON, DC — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told thousands of pro-Israel activists in Washington on Tuesday that Israel was prepared to do whatever it felt necessary to stop Iran’s nuclear program. “We will never be brought to the brink
Senate Foreign Relations Committee chair Bob Menendez (D-NJ) addressed the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) Policy Conference on Tuesday morning and took a dramatically different stance than that which Secretary of State John Kerry outlined on Monday. He pushed
President Barack Obama declared on Monday that Russian president Vladimir Putin was on “the wrong side of history.” Secretary of State John Kerry had complained on Sunday: “You just don’t in the 21st century behave in 19th century fashion.” Both
World bully Vlad Putin is choking out Ukraine, but were you all aware that he is also making a claim to the Canadian North Pole? Yup, Vlad is disputing Canada’s claim to the Artic territory, and has stepped up Artic
John Kerry’s speech at AIPAC struck me as sincere–and that, I think, makes it as a success. He came across as being genuinely concerned for Israel’s security. Yet his speech also revealed that the administration’s diplomatic efforts are still based
Secretary of State John Kerry defended the Obama administration’s policy on Iran before an audience of thousands of pro-Israel activists at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) Policy Conference on Monday evening. While acknowledging skepticism about Iran’s intentions, he
In a bombshell interview with Bloomberg’s Jeffrey Goldberg, President Obama issued his most direct public threats ever against Israel and its Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. ‘Bibi’, the President all but said, ‘if you don’t accept the peace plan that my
At the Democratic National Convention in 2012, then-Sen. John Kerry mocked Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney’s “Rocky IV” worldview, in which he called Russia our “number 1 geopolitical foe.” On Sunday, March 2, 2014 now-Secretary of State John Kerry went
Jeremy Ben-Ami, the president and founder of J Street, has an op-ed in Politico today calling upon AIPAC to “get with the peace program.” It’s not clear exactly what he wants AIPAC to do, though. AIPAC has supported the peace
WASHINGTON (AP) — A senior administration official says Secretary of State John Kerry will travel to the Ukrainian capital of Kiev Tuesday to meet with government officials. Kerry’s trip comes as the U.S. and other Western nations weigh a response
Jeffrey Goldberg has released an interview he conducted with President Barack Obama last Thursday, during which the president outlined his message to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whom he will meet on Monday. Obama will warn Netanyahu that he is
Secretary of State John Kerry shared a series of deep thoughts on the path to peace between Russia and the Ukraine in concurrence with his Face the Nation appearance Sunday. Invasion is not the act of someone who is strong.
WASHINGTON (AP)–Academy award-winner Ben Affleck understands that celebrity is a double-edged sword, helping him draw attention to the strife and suffering in the Congo while attracting skeptics dismissive of Hollywood stars and causes. So the actor and director did a
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has a heap of problems: images of his thugs attacking unarmed protesters across the globe, John Kerry’s “concern” about his disregard for human rights, and his only friend being Bashar Al-Assad. But Maduro has chosen to attack
Secretary of State John Kerry had some stern words for the socialist leadership of Venezuela yesterday, warning that the violent repression of the opposition was “unacceptable.” President Nicolás Maduro took to Twitter this weekend to denounce “insolent” “threats of violence”
On Hugh Hewitt’s Thursday radio show, conservative commentator Mark Steyn surveyed the scene in the Ukraine and the U.S. State Department’s response, in particular Secretary of State John Kerry’s response, who has been promoting a U.S. policy on anthropogenic global
The controversial Keystone XL pipeline met with another hurdle Wednesday when a Nebraska judge ruled that a state law granting approval to a proposed route was unconstitutional, court records showed. The decision came as US President Barack Obama was set
CNN: Crossfire hosts Newt Gingrich and Van Jones spar over Secretary of State John Kerry’s recent comments on climate change…
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — President Nicolas Maduro’s government on Monday gave three U.S. Embassy officials 48 hours to leave the country, accusing the Obama administration of siding with student protesters that Venezuela accuses of inciting violence. The announcement by Foreign
Secretary of State John Kerry told Indonesians on Sunday that global warming is now “perhaps the world’s most fearsome weapon of mass destruction.” “Think about the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. It doesn’t keep us safe if the United
EuroNews: US Secretary of State John Kerry has been in Indonesia talking about climate change. He spoke to students at the American Cultural Centre in Jakarta:
A friend pointed out an obvious contradiction in the Obama administration’s policy towards terrorism. In a series of “goodwill” gestures aimed at enticing the Palestinians to keep negotiating, President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry have forced Israel
Secretary of State John Kerry, traveling through Asia to promote the Obama Administration’s push for an agenda to highlight climate change, will begin his selling in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Sunday. A State Department official acknowledged that this speech is only
The US and China, the world’s two largest emitters of greenhouse gases, Saturday announced they were joining forces to share more information on trying to combat climate change. In a joint statement announced as US Secretary of State John Kerry
South Korean officials left Seoul Wednesday for the highest level talks with North Korea for years, marking the start of a possible upswing in cooperation between the bitter rivals. The talks in the border truce village of Panmunjom have no
Chicago Tribune: A top Palestinian official said on Tuesday a framework agreement being crafted by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to buttress troubled Israeli-Palestinian peace talks may be doomed to fail. Nabil Abu Rdeineh, spokesman to Palestinian President Mahmoud
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea has canceled for a second time its invitation for a senior U.S. envoy to visit the country to discuss a long-detained American’s possible release, the State Department said Monday. The cancellation comes only
Many of those so-called “realists” who inspired Barack Obama’s opposition to the Iraq War and accompanied him into the administration believed in the theory of “linkage”–that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was closely linked to threats against the U.S., and was in
Amidst deteriorating relations between the Obama administration and the Netanyahu government, the State Department has criticized Israel for approving the construction of over five hundred housing units in Jewish neighborhoods of Jerusalem that are across the pre-1967 lines, when East
The Israeli and Palestinian media recently reported the bodies of dozens of Palestinians buried in Israel throughout the decades of anti-Israeli terrorism had been exhumed and transferred to the Palestinian Authority. The festive–if overloud–ritual that the Palestinian establishment carried out
