Word: settlements
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...reason for canceling Thursday's scheduled meeting in Paris between Benjamin Netanyahu and George Mitchell was simple: there was nothing for the Israeli Prime Minister and President Obama's Middle East peace envoy to discuss. The U.S. has demanded a complete freeze in Israeli settlement construction in territories conquered in 1967, making it a litmus test of Israel's bona fides in pursuing the two-state solution, which the Obama Administration has prioritized. Netanyahu, who faces more public pressure from Washington than any Israeli leader in nearly two decades, says he wants peace talks and recently declared his qualified support...
...hawkish Israeli leader who is, at best, a reluctant traveler on that road. When Netanyahu visited Washington in May, he discovered he'd been outflanked by Obama, who had managed to get many of Israel's key congressional supporters on board with the White House push against settlements. U.S. officials were widely quoted as telling the Israelis that moving forward on a settlement freeze and peace with the Palestinians was a critical step toward mustering the Arab support Washington needed to pressure Iran. In his Cairo speech, Obama had made clear that America's commitment to Israel's security...
...Things would get worse. With sponsors turned off by Jackson's private life - Pepsi and sneaker brand LA Gear, for instance, had backed him - he further lost control of his finances. Duff investments and a divorce settlement with Lisa Marie Presley helped push Jackson to increasingly use his earnings from music as collateral for loans, first from Bank of America (BoA), before Fortress Investment Group, a specialist in distressed debt, took the loans off BoA's hands. By the mid-2000s, Jackson was believed to be $270 million in debt. (See Thriller's entry on the All-TIME 100 Albums...
...leaders, despite an earlier remark he made before taking over as Foreign Minister that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak could "go to hell." He told TIME, "Even today, I'm ready to start talks with any country in our region. We agree with President Obama's approach to a regional settlement of historical disputes. I'm ready to take a jet to Damascus to meet President Bashir al-Assad." (Read "When Bibi Met Barack: Tough Talk on Middle East Peace...
This crisis has already revealed something about Obama: he's not timid. If he succeeds in getting Netanyahu to freeze settlement growth, his next moves may be to dial up the pressure on the U.S.'s Arab allies to take steps toward recognizing the Jewish state and put heat on the Palestinians to overcome their political division, which might entail some easing of the U.S. ban on dealing with Hamas. The latter move would spark loud wailing and gnashing of teeth on both the Israeli and American right. But it may not matter. During the campaign, Obama's foreign policy...