Netanyahu aide: PA thwarted Mitchell bid to renew peace talks

before Bibi

Just happens they didn't succeed, hard as they tried Surely you remember when five (5) Armies invaded Israel on 5/14/48, doing their darndest to steal the land allocated to the Jewish State by the League of Nationals and UN Partition Plan As a refresher, check the history of the '56 War, '67 War and Yom Kippur War of 1973, all attemps by Arabs to steal as much as they could

Unlike the Bushies who advocated the Palestinian line yet made pro forma compromises to maintain the facade of the "honest broker" the Obama administration nakedly endorses ethnic cleansing of Jews from WB. Indeed, did he not advocate a building freeze in Jerusalem? In Gaza that is Mission Accomplished already. Let's put it this way for American Jewry.... If you support Obama re Israel it is very likely that your bubbie from Tel Aviv is going to be staying with you for an extended period so act accordingly. That is, IF she gets out, of course.

I am pleased to see that Mr. Netanyahu more than qualified to take his seat in the U.S. Congress, which is to say that he is absolutely shameless, a pathological liar, a disgrace to his country, and totally without redeeming qualities. Those are the essential and necessary qualities for becoming a member of the U.S. Congress. I am an American with no Arab or Jewish blood, am not a Christian or Moslem, and don't hate Israel. As a young idealist man I loved Israel, but neither Israel nor official America are worth of love now.

The PA, Are not interested in Peace. They look around & see they're making headway with their propaganda,& people are supporting them. But just as they didn't read the map correctly in the '40s,in the 60s,in the 70s,8os & 90s so also, they are simply not reading the map now! The Left is encouraging them to be blind & deaf ! It will take about 150 years before there'll be peace between the two antagonistic sides. Each believing that justice is on his side ! Only an upheaval of Biblical proportions that will shake the pillars of the ME can bring about a sense of urgency to accommodate the warring sides.

at least i have no other explanation for it. some of you posters here may have the best of ideas & be knowledgeable, experienced & all that, but there's a consistency to the way you act towards certain posters. it's of course none of my business & i don't care, but i think it should be said: you're probably here to extend on your personal fiefdom of some kind or unless someone belongs to the selected list of yours /you don't have a way to excell at their expense you just don't respond to those people's comments. you're intellectual snobs. this is all the more strange as some of you at least have so much positive to contribute here. in case your friend /dog has been driven over today /you just found out your business went bankrupt, i beg your pardon, it was my mistake. in any case, shana tova lakh, great to know ya' -

When you describe the "Pal" heritage as building on top of previous cultures, pogroms and murder, you ignore the fact that such is the history of most of the world. Doesn't the same apply to (for instance) Germanic tribes in France and England and Magyars in Hungary?

No, it's not the same. The same would be for the refugees to return to their homes (even if in ruins now) for a "temporary" 6 or 9-months period.If there is a Pal. state, they will then move there. If not, they'll stay put. The refugee question is a bargaining chip. The settlements are not - they are "facts on the ground". David

do these guys REALLY believe themselves? they literally wallow in two-faced deceit, double-talk, ambiguity, and outright lies... then they have the ostentatious gall to wag their wretched fingers at abbas and lay the blame on him? "then with tail wagging, bibi runs to his master who praises him. and gives him a pat on the head and little treat"...

Didn't cooperate with Goldstone. Won't cooperate with settlement freeze obligations from the road map. I'm afraid his feeble attempt to blame the Palestinians is as transparent as it is pathetic. I wonder if he'll cooperate with the Hague one day?

The only way Abbas will willingly go back to negotiations is if the existing west bank settlements start being expanded geographically towards Israel itself. Then he will know time is against him and make a settlement while he can.

So Moses can't part the ocean.... not without Shas approval, anyway. Where is it written, that some minor religious party has veto power over Israeli state-affairs. Let's see.... we all deride Hezbollah for demanding veto power, for politicizing religion in Lebanon. For not allowing forward political progress. How is it that Likud and Kadima, the two most powerful political parties in Israel permit themselves to be held ransom. Sure, Netanyahu knows how fragile his coalition is. But what about the Israelis themselves, I suppose the way things stand right now.... their voice doesn't count.

Wow! Was this unexpected! After Oslo I, Oslo II, Taba, Wye, Tenet, Mitchell, Zinni, Sharm El-Sheikh, Roadmap, Annapolis, is this flop going to be called Mitchell II? No. Let?s call it Sisyphus n, where n -- ∞

What exactly was the problem, did the PA refuse to stop building settlements for their refugees inside Israel? That must have been it.

Sorry Palestinian.... I mean American in NY Logic would dictate that the first agenda is establishing a Palestinian state. Isn't that a decades-long Palestinian claim. To make a right of return a condition for negotiation. Makes the Palestinian state enterprise suspect in the first place. It's putting the cart before the horse. Besides right of return, Jerusalem, borders and all the rest.... are what negotiations are made for. Why put condition ahead of negotiation.... unless of course, there's no Palestinian consensus to speak of. And the agenda is to simply procure Israeli concessions. Or to kick the can down the road.... while Fatah and Hamas resolve their disputes. BTW, that isn't gonna happen anytime soon either. Kind regards.....

i just wonder what you're basing this on. have the pals - who /when - ever indicated that? remember what arafat did at camp david, it was the ROR he pulled out of his sleeve at the last moment. i'd wish it to be so, that it's only tactic. but how long are the pals gonna keep to it? they're gonna keep everybody waiting, hoping till the last moment? that's not really acceptable. & i wonder what the intention is by pushing this now on their part (one reason why it's dumb by bibi/peres not to want to deal w/this issue right away). i think this should be pushed & exposed, once for all, just like the settlements issue. the pals also need to prepare their public for the giving up of ROR, something not being done at all. that's also a "fact on the ground." you know, israelis could argue the same way, say, w/a different government, that the settlements are only a bargaining chip. we're gonna keep building, but of course, we'll evacuate once an acceptable deal is on the table.

So Moses can't part the ocean.... not without Shas approval, anyway. Where is it written, that some minor religious party has veto power over Israeli state-affairs. Let's see.... we all deride Hezbollah for demanding veto power, for politicizing religion in Lebanon. For not allowing forward political progress. How is it that Likud and Kadima, the two most powerful political parties in Israel permit themselves to be held ransom. Sure, Netanyahu knows how fragile his coalition is. But what about the Israelis themselves, I suppose the way things stand right now.... their voice doesn't count.

13. Sharon accepted them with Bush,W.Sharon got it in a letter! NOW you want to change the Sharon-W letter. TRUE they changed it bilaterally,Bush W never even talked with Arafat, W hated him said so! HUBRIS, doesn't even come near what those to Bast....... did to Palestine. True, W didn't give israel shopping list of US taxpayers paid for weapons needed to attack Iran! Too bad, would like to see RETALIATION guided weapons..worked not to hit Pals either! Bye.

do these guys REALLY believe themselves? they literally wallow in two-faced deceit, double-talk, ambiguity, and outright lies... then they have the ostentatious gall to wag their wretched fingers at abbas and lay the blame on him? "then with tail wagging, bibi ran to his master who praised him. and gave him a pat on the head and treat"...

Look behind the surface spin. Abbas cannot negotiate with his country divided in virtual civil war with Hamas, and his own position weakened. So, making preconditions gives him the aura of toughness, standing up to the Israeli's without risking anything. Bibi for his part did an ineresting double jig, claim a freeze and announcing building new apartments. Bibi outdoes himself, but is preparing the Israeli's from the inevitable withdrawals that must take place after a 60 year ego expansion. And Obama might yet get them to meet at the last minute, thus bolstering his own charm and image. So folks, diplomacy is about spin, and bounce. Call me the spinmeister, but not collect. shana tova.

If Bibi expects the Palestinians to capitulate, he can think again this time. The population is in no mood to see its leadership ridiculed once more. We are not that interested in peace with Israel to take it at any price. Settlements have to stop - and for good. Nothing less will be acceptable.

Again with Israel with their half truths and half sentences. We have offered the PA a nine month freeze of new settlement construction in the West Bank ( now let's complete the sentence---after authorizing construction of 3000 new apartments) and cannot understand why The PA are not responding. I guess that the PA should authorize the use of 5000 rockets then have a nine month freeze while talks take place. In this case, can you see Israel agreeing to talks with the PA.

The Arabs TRIED to grab the whole Shebang, when they attacked in 1948, crossing into Israel with five armies, they lost, that's why they're so bitter and frustrated Tried the same stunt in 1967 & 1973, same results Check the "TIMELINES ISRAEL ARAB CONFLICT"

Then what's left to negotiate?

It's time for the US to lay down the rules for Israel. No more settlements period in the occupied territories; Jerusalem to be jointly shared or no more money from the US Treasury. The only reason Israel exists at all is because of US money and technology (some of the latter stolen by their spies). It pretends it's an independent state and we in the US feed that illusion but the truth is without the US it would be just a place that exports oranges. Israel's occupation of land captured in 1967 is the excuse that terrorist use to bomb and maim. I support Israel's existence as a state within pre-1967 borders and not a km more. I also support their right to live in peace without being attacked but this business about recognizing their right to exist as a state and sighing a peace treatment is just and excuse to hold on to their ill-gotten goods. On this point I agree with Hamas, as long as settlement exist in the West Bank, no peace is even thinkable.

"Palestinian negotiators "showed no flexibility while Israel did," and that Israel offered to freeze West Bank settlement construction" Settlement freeze? My tuchas. I can hear the hammers and nails and saws and.... all the way to Prescott. You speak with the serpent's tongue. Salaam/Shalom

In his Cairo speech, obama erroneously gave abbas the belief that the US would hand the palestinians everything they wanted without having to make any concessions of their own, not even to accept Israel as the Jewish homeland. So they continue with all the same unacceptable demands and are no closer to getting their own state than they were when PLO first started with terrorism.

Only Israel, the PA and the arab nations should e negotiating peae directly. NO one else should be involved. The PA is playing to an audience an dnot interested in negotiations only in imposed solutions from their audience. There need be no conditions to start negotiations. Forget about peace talks at this time as there are more pressing existential issues.

1- The establishment of Israel in 1948 displaced a resident population. Of course they would be a shade upset. The takeover of additional territory in 1967 did the same thing. I know Israel thinks its claim harks back to Biblical times, but living, breather times trump that mythology. 2-The settlements have clearly cut into the viability of what is left for a viable Palestinian state. That is, if you will, the purpose of the settlement movement. 3-The 1948 establishment of Israel simply displaced a people living on that land at that time. There are arguments as to whether they fled, left of their own accord or were driven out by the new invaders but I don't think we have to exert many brain cells to figure that out. 4-The nouveau Jews to this area are colonizers because their only claim is Biblically based and that has no rational base in the modern world. Let's get real here. Serious people are only interested in what happens in this world; not in what is in people's imagination.

When Iranian rockets launched by their proxy armies from Lebanon and Gaza land in Toronto, perhaps then you will understand why we will continue to settle in Judea and Samaria. Until then, Shanah Tovah.

The land you're talking about belongs to the Jews as the land you live on belongs to the natives. No need to call God to know the truth because in both cases the true land thief is known.You in the US and Arabs in the Gaza and West Bank. Simple.

Let me get this straight. The Palestinian people, who have been living caged into a 20x7 mile area for the last several decades, who are denied access to commerce, trade, medical supplies, and in some cases food, are to blame for the failure of the peace talks? That is quite miraculous.

Israel does not get money from the US, we get credits, which mean that we can buy US made goods for $3b. This is stimulus to the US economy, and, should you and your ilk decide to cut it off, it would grossly effect the economy and lose thousands of jobs. What is your position on the $700b stimulus package, the $450b onmibus and the bank and motor industry buy outs? We are just a drop in the bucket, and in return, the US has a friendly foothold in an otherwise hostile region. Next time think before you stick your knee jerk left foot in your big mouth.

... it dovetails perfectly with what his daddy preaches and what his wife encourages... ... shlom-bayit... but no shalom for Israel...

And what, in your opinion, should the pals do to prove thay are sincerely interested in peace? And to all you settlementphobes: We have proven that, if need be, we can dismantle entire communities in the blink of an eye (ref Gaza Strip 2005). So why should settlements be an impediment? - They are just an excuse on the part of the pals to not have peace - which is something they really don't want. If they wanted, they could have had a state years ago, on 97% of the West Bank and Gaza - but for 3% they have heaped suffereing on their own people. By the way, they could have had musch more in 1947, but chose the whole lot and see where they are now.

But no one contest the right of palestinian refugees to go to the future palestinian state (which in my mind should include [ and note that I say include] Jordan.

... the settlements are on stolen Palestinian territory... they didn't ask permission... they didn't invite the Pals to appropriate Israeli territory in exchange...

Maybe but then the settlements are also a bargaining chip for Israel

The entire northern portion of the African continent and that is LOT of land.

The PA knows that without Gaza on board their negotiating position is considerably weakened. The best they can offer Israel now is a peace deal with a little over half the Palestinians. For the moment they are stalling for time by being hard line and intransigent in the hope that their unity talks with Hamas come through.

... between the violence and indignities that we inflict upon the Pals, and the burgeoning violence in Israeli society today, at every level and in almost every sphere... ... doubling the police force will bring only more repression... it's not the correct solution...

That's bibis idea of the PA "thawting" peace plans. Wow could this situation get any more stupid. The Israeli Govt is spitting in Obama's face and telling him it's raining

...oportunity" for peace, observed Mr. Abba Eban some years ago, and his words sound as true today as they did then.

When will Israel take responsibility for it's actions?!? Netanyahu threw a wrench into any peace talks by announcing "we'll APPROVE more settlements, THEN freeze temporarily". Um...no...ya big dummy. It doesn't work that way, Netanyahu. Sigh. Why are the Americans the only ones with common sense around here?!?

In 67 Jordan and Syria were the one that attacked Israel with the stated goal to destroy it. Israel gained the west bank and the Golan as a result of its defensive actions. Go back to the real history not your fantasies.

There's nothing to talk about. Israel has taken, or otherwise controls, every square inch of Palestinian land. The only viable solution is a One State Solution. You've subjugated the Palestinians, you've occupied them for decades, now you're going to have to make space for them because they're not leaving as you'd hoped you could drive them out. Consequences are a bitch.

in the 1967 War of Aggression. Then you can come to the negotiating table with clean hands and a clean conscience. And please spare me the babble about some mythical god telling you the land was yours.

Netanyahu Declare now a freeze on all arab building on any and all JEWISH Land. This must include all the land designated by The League of Nations Mandate, including all the land the limeys & froggies stole...DKJ.

There is nothing to talk about with the Arab land thieves. There is no such thing as ?Palestinian people?; they are Jordanian, Egyptian and Syrian emigrants that should make their claims to their own countries. No more talks with terrorists. Israel must raise the bar and cease all talks until: the Arabs offer peace for peace, stop making claims to lands that don?t belong to them (like Jerusalem) dismantle and disarm all terrorist groups and stop claiming right of return to Israel where they never lived. The practice of rewarding terror should stop, by Israel and the rest of the world. Shana Tova

"I hope they go ahead and bomb Tehran..." you write. Then how are you any better than the other yahoos on these boards?

Obama didn't say it, so i will. Have a horrible Rosh Hashana. Try not to kill any Arabs, i hear that is not kosher during the holidays.

all terrorists in gaza must freeze - destroy their weapons of murder. and in the freeze, they should freeze in the frost for a cold new year.So basically, the freeze must be turned into enemy pulverised frost chips.Then we can start talking to them in their freezing frost, right?

"They added that an El Al plane has been put on "alert" for a flight to New York at short notice, either on Monday night or Tuesday morning." Those Israelis! Always ready for peace!

I'm even surprised this government agreed to freeze West Bank settlements for 9 months once negotiations begin between Israel and the Palestinians. The PA perhaps should begin negotiations with this accomplishment so far because the most contentious issue is Jerusalem and to have it as a precondition to freeze Jerusalem construction to start negotiations is not realistic. The PA has to keep in mind the type of government they are dealing with - one allied with the religious parties and the former Greater Israel enthusiasts. The fact that the PA has no relations with Hamas or control in Gaza is also a problematic occurrence for the peace talks.

The PA should by now accept the fact that Israel will never go back to 1967 border and Jerusalem will NEVER be devided NOR will the Golan Heights be returned. So......if this will be an excuse not to be peace, so be it. These people are a bunch of desert bandits and terrorists in a suit & tie. Who do they think they are fooling??? They should all find a job instead wasting peoples time so as to get exposure in the world and to be on TV.

1) If the "settlements" are the problem, explain the war against Israel's very existence, not just from 1948 to 1967 but the stated goals of Fatah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Arab League. 2) How do Jews living east of the Armsitice Line make a second Pal state not "viable"? 3) Pals have the "right to return" to their own Arab countries. They are a lot larger than Israel. Why is it that you claim Israel should be the only country that must be flooded with enemy aliens? 4) Since when do people "colonize" land where they're from? 5) If Arabs conquering the land means Jews don't have the right to live there, why does the fact that Jews freed the land mean we still can't live there? Most importantly, all of your claims come down to one thing: Why do you support the ethnic cleansing of Jews from lands on which we'd lived for thousands of years? You support the cleansing that happened in '48 and demand it happen again. Why?

Well, the big Obama drive to the goal fumbled at the scrimmage line. maybe even the quarterback Mitchell was thrown for a loss. Back to the huddle. Try something not in the old play book. Hut one, hut two, hut three.

Who else to blame?, the Pal been getting the blame for the 60 years. nothing new.

JESUSALEN is the revelation of the truth jesus messiah the king of the jews (apocalypse 21)

Thank you for putting Zionist's comments in perspective. Formerly a staunch advocate of Israel, I have argued my last argument in its favor, thanks to the interminable intransigence of Israel in general and Netanyahu in particular. The bully on the block, Israel is quickly losing support in the US and the world, and -- hopefully -- will realize this and reverse its course. Otherwise, it may have to tackle its obsessive phobia of Iran without our help. Frankly, I hope they go ahead and bomb Tehran so we don't have to get our hands dirty.

The Palestinian authority fulfilled its obligations under the first phase of the Roadmap. Israel didn't. This is the part of Mitchell's visit that Bibi didn't understand. Blaming the Palestinians for Mitchell's failure is a boring repetition of the "no Palestinian partner" thing. if Bibi can't do it, then maybe it's time to step down - already Lieberman is doing something more useful, like visiting Africa. If Israel doesn't cooperate in the peace process, then the world won't cooperate in preventing an Iranian nuclear weapon. That's the deal that Bibi should understand very well.

l finds, coins, buildings, inscriptions; NOTHING. Yes, invasion, building on top of previous cultures, pogroms and murder, that is the Pal heritage.

The continued building of settlement in the West Bank and in East Jerusalem is all but ending any chance for a viable Palestinian state. That's why the Palestinians don't want to meet; Israel has left nothing to talk about. And yes, the right of return has to addressed. Israel sees to think that only Jews throughout the world have a right of return. To be precise, it is not a right of return for Jews Israel espouses, but a right of world wide jewry to immigrate to the land of another people and colonize it.

first of all jews becomin muslim is possible but very rare in palestine todays palestinians re the immigrants(yes just like jews coming fro europe) from other arab countries to work there they were displaced by the brits to these lands to work and get nothing in return(slave) than settled there in the same time the jewish migration was taking place from europe with the foundation of zionism... BUT before these events there was always jews and arabs and turkish(they re not arab) living there except for jerusalem and major cities lttle population... jews didnt grab land they BOUGHT IT from arabs and ottoman empire! when the conflict begun everyone was stealin from everyone! your story with jews stealin is incomplete by the way over 200000jews were kicked from their properties in all arab states when 48war begun less arabs were kicked from their houses in israel after the war there were arabs left inthe stat of isr NO JEWS LEFT IN JUDEA AND SAMARIA(WB) GAZA EAST JERUSALEM! who grabs land?

What incentive does Israel ever have to reach "peace" when every year that passes is another chance to expand their settlements more and more? Thats why Israel must halt settlements to prove they are sincerely interested in peace.

was under roman occupation and predominently christian with only a few local jewish terrorist since the majority of jews had an imposed diaspora set on them previously by roman pagans....it is a fact that muslim arabs under Umar did take the land from the roman christian occupation with only one condition: he protect the christian majority from the jewish terrorist....in fact the arabs set the jews free and they were equal under islamic law

Your argumant does not hold water. First, your family or others being kcked out of their host country to Israel was in response to the Jewish land grab in 48. Second, one crime cannot be used to justify another. Third, Yemen was not taking the land that was not sovereign.

....accepted the "middle ground" that Netanyahu and Peres had in mind. But there simply have been too many (broken) promises and too many "temporary solutions" that didn't lead anywhere for the Palestinians still be willing to take that route one more time. All they can do now (should Israels governement not fall apart) is to focus on Fayyad's unila- teral disengagement plan from Israel for the year 2011. International backing for that should not be a big problem, but Abbas + Co. better make sure that the members of the security council will be on board (honestly I can't imagine president Obama vetoing a peaceful "orange revolution" in Ramallah, but who knows, maybe I'm wrong...).

That's funny...the Palestinians are grabbing land...hahaha

It is unfortunate that the Israeli PM cannot make compromises without his government collapsing. It doesn't look as if he can order the US President about as his predecessors did with Bush. Obama appears slightly more pro-American and less likely to capitulate to right wing demagoguery or whim. It appears that he thinks an Israeli PM should actually honor the word of an Israeli PM, especially one of the same party. Bibi ran on a platform of no peace and it seems that is what he intends to deliver to Israelis and Palestinians. That is unfortunately the box he built for himself. Israeli officials moan about pressure when there have only been polite requests. Wonder what will happen if real pressure is applied.

I really can't understand the Palestinians. They have done nothing to earn anything. First Gilad Shalit home safe and sound with his family before any talks. Is Israel supposed to have two Palestinians states plus 1 million within Israel?

esther look at the bright side.israel has got a booming economy.the arabs cannot beat us in war. and we are growing. the only problem we have is the violence in society.maybe we should double the police force.

... but Bibi et al are using it for nefarious purposes, displaying it as an ulterior motive of the Pals in order to flood-Israel-out altogether... ... in other words, the habitual nay-sayers are using it as an additional avoidance tool...

The USA, USA taxpayers, and the world has become tired of the silliness and irresponsibilities of Israel and her politicians. Get Modern and stop this other self-defeating stuff.

I said "all Israel", including Judea and Samaria. The tiny percentage I mentioned that Israel "occupies" includes the tiny districts of Judea and Samaria (the "WB") in case that wasn't clear. Arabs never stole land from Jews???? Ho ho. I guess you missed completely the facts in my prior post. Arabs stole land from Jews all over the Middle East, in ancient and modern times. And they stole land from Jews in Israel itself, in ancient and modern times. The truth may blow your agenda, but it's true.

Palestinians live around the world. How sweet would it be to be able to return to the land of their ancesters just like jews or any people would do in the world. Some would like to stay, some would just spend their holidays with the family and enjoy the climat, just like any other people on this earth.

what happened to your family is a tragedy but are palestinians responsible for that ? the answer is no. Jewish people from arab countries have a home don't they ? you have a home don't you ? Palestinians don't and this is Israel's fault. The size of the country jews are claiming is irrelevant. Jews can be from Europe, from America or anywhere else in the world. Palestinians are from Palestine.

which are in dispute and not demanding the same of Arabs amounts to pure anti-Jewish racism. Thus, Jews will not accept being singled out, in a more racist fashion, and told in which village, town or even neighborhood they may not reside simply because they are Jewish. Those days are over!

All thinking people reject the kind of pressure that the Palestinians can put on Israel. Aw but heres the rub... The Palestinians seem to have the legitimate position. So what to do? The only thing that can be done to avoid terrorism and the death of innocents is for the world to squeeze Israel until she changes her behavior.

I agree. Israel always wants to bite the hand that feeds them and thinks the world owes them something. I say let's stop feeding them and see what happens to their arrogance!!

I seem to recall that the Green Line was a temporary armistice line established on 4/3/1949 "without prejudice to future territorial settlements or boundary lines or to claims of either Party relating thereto" at Arab insistence by the way. In other words, no border has ever been established and the U.S. nor any other third party has the authority to elevate the status of an armistice line to that of being a permanent border. That is a matter which can only be settled by a final peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians. And no half-assed hudnas or tahadiyehs this time either, Erekat.

... is ushering in a very unfriendly immediate future for Israel... ... both UK and USA are sick-and-tired of us... ... UN atomic energy commissions are seriously looking over our shoulder... ... IDF personnel are becoming personae non grata worldwide... ... honest-to-goodness, are the settlements worth all this to us...?! ... it doesn't look as if Bibi is going to have his cake and eat it...

"By the way, ever see a map and the size of all Israel? It is under 1/10 of 1% of the MidEast, and Judaism claims no more than Israel alone." Just how big an Israel are you talking about? Are you including the West Bank, Jerusalem and Golan? You see, your mistake is to think that Israel should get an allegedly small piece of land despite the fact that it already belongs to the Palestinians. Theft is theft, after all. Incidentally, the Arabs did not ever steal land from the Jews - the Jews became Muslim and the ancestors of some of the present-day Palestinians.

... the only negative issue is the return of refugees apparently to sovreign Israel, which is a fruitless expectation... Esther Esther, I do not believ that teh Palestinians truthfully expect a right of return. But that is the only issue that they have that Israel wants to nullify. Consequently that is teh only barganing chip. To not be able to use it to extract concessions from israelleaves them empty handed. Th eissue has to be addressed sometime.

And I, as an American taxpayer, am tired of "helping" our "only friend in the middle east." Along with your admonition that Obama "stick it", you should also strongly reject any further help in dollars or moral support from the US. It is time that your swagger and arrogance goes it alone. Think and do what you will, but do it alone in all the world. Better yet, send back all of the money you have already taken from US taxpayers. Maybe world sanctions will get your attention.

"...What land have the arabs grabbed?" - JOHN #4 I may start by mentioning my family's land in Yemen, where they lived centuries before being kicked to Israel along with almost a million other Jews forced from Arab countries. My family was forced to sign papers giving up their farm "legally" to the Yemen gov., as were most Jews kicked from there. In the "Arab world" Jews lost combined lands of far greater size than all of Israel, ancient or modern. Arabs first ended Jewish majority in Israel in the 7th century AD (invading from Arabia, surprised?), and stole most land of Jews here and continued use of the terrace agriculture system, first brought to Israel and built in cooperative use by Israelites (Jews). Now with 22 Arab states, the land grab continues... I can go on and on. By the way, ever see a map and the size of all Israel? It is under 1/10 of 1% of the MidEast, and Judaism claims no more than Israel alone. So when people talk of "Israeli land grab", one may simply laugh.

Israel has had expansionist objectives since 1967. They will not disappear overnight. Israel will continue to be a barrier to peace and exploit the Palestinians for their land as long as they can.

Erekat and Palestinians all or nothing stance will come to nothing from the Israelis. Erekat's use of the hammer, versus offering a carrot, will stall the peace process indefinitely till Obama administration feels so stifled that they move on to another problem. More facts on the ground become inevitable.

Why should the Palestinians negotiate when their maximalist demands are being advanced by Europeans and others. For Peace Negotiations to succeed you need two parties willing to sit down together without outside pressures or imposed solutions.

... anything less than complete freeze of settlements is a travesty... however, this could be step-wise, beginning with a year's freeze at least... ... the only negative issue is the return of refugees apparently to sovreign Israel, which is a fruitless expectation... ... the Pals should be vigorously and practically campaigning for their own State beside Israel ASAP, where the refugees could establish homes, if they so choose...

How many other "heads of state" offered the Israeli people a "happy new year." How petty and misguided your thinking, mr zionist forever. No other country has done so much to help Israel than the USA and the USA taxpayer. Remember the Yom Kippur war of '73, who did the airlift to save Israel? There hasn't been such a honest attempt for brokering a peace since Clinton in 2000, so why do you think Obama's actions are not sincere? Because Americans, American Jews, and every other country in the world beleives that the settlements are illegal, so when the Obama Team says no settlements--it's actually helping Israel. Once before mr zionist, I explained to you that the American Jewish vote has changed as well as the American Jewish political money. The conservative pro-Jewish lobby group, AIPAC, has burnt many bridges and the more senior members of Congress, who are jewish, no long "buy into" AIPAC stuff (for example Franks and Levin.)

Sporadic news reports say Bibi has agreed to a 9 month settlement freeze. After all his bravado and mixed signals, authorizing almost 3,000 units, his acceptance of a freeze is either duplicitous or collapse. Either way, it's poor leadership and bargaining to concede before negotiation. On the other hand, it has always been in the cards and the precendents of returning Sinai and Gaza by right wing governments is in the cards. As Amos Elon said, winning the six day war, and the annexing euphoria it triggered was ultimately a tragedy. Or maybe in the middle east, politics is like a tango, one step foward, one step back, until a balance is reached. Bibi has been cast by history in a role as hero. Is he ready, or is he going to fumble it?

Israel wants its cake and eat it too. Israel refuses to compromise on settlements, it refuses to discuss Jerusalem and the US refuses to recognise the borders of June 4, 1967. And a fanatic who believes not in statecraft and inernational relations based on secular law, but rather, divine right, gives the implacable gasbag of a pm a gift for anotheer year of darkness and death trotted out as one of liberation and redemption. Mitchell will get nowhere with this crowd, except being told what to do and how to do it and he had better listen or oy voy, voy as bib, peres, shalev, regev and the rest of the group shakes their finger at him with warning consequences.

Israel is like a really mean school-yard bully. Not only did they steal the lunch-money (all the land taken in 1947-1948) they also decided to keep on getting bits and pieces of what was left of the afternoon snack.

'Mitchell meetings did not advance trilateral summit' Really? Wow! I am truly shocked! I wonder what went wrong??!!!! Could it be perhaps that Netanyahu does not give a crap about peace or giving up land? Sheesh!

Readers here are not stupid. You picked one thing and changed it, and avoided the rest. Speak up and say your piece if you have one. Jane

... if Shas scion is Bibi's chief source of spiritual inspiration... (irrespective of whether he went to pay his hommage as a political charade or a gehuine groupie)... ... anyway, 'safer' to meet with Reb Yosef than with Obama...

Thank you Mr. Abbas for sticking to some principals for the first time. It will take some time to forgive you for engaging in a kissing fest with Olmert while the cranes were busy building more settlements on our occupied land. Now the entire world gets a live demo of how Israel can slap the American president and get away with it.

Mitchell pushing Abbas' demand of a total settlement freeze destroys the illusion of America as a fair broker in the peace negotiations. Abbas is attempting to gain a major concession without giving anything in return and Obama and Mitchell are supporting that, thus intefering in the ultimate settlement. I don't care for Bibi's equivication and double talk. He should have said no point blank, without a major concession: Shallit, recognition of Israel as the rightful Jewish state, etc. Shame on Mitchell. Praise to Bibi..

Chaim #1 What land have the arabs grabbed?

"Mitchell also asked the two Arab leaders to rally the Arab world in undertaking goodwill gestures toward Israel." Goodwill gestures for what? Presently Israel - Continues the judaization of East Jerusalem to prejudice final state agreements - Continues the settlement expansion to prejudice future border agreements in her favor - Does not removes iilegal outposts (nota bene: illegal by her own definition) in violation of years-old commitments. Goodwill towards THAT state?

We don't need Rish Hashana greetings from a man who wants to hurt Israel with his left hand and who gives greetings with the other. I would prefer he wished us a terrible Rosh Hashana at least that would be honest. This Rosh Hashana greeting was nothing more than attempt to boost his popularity ratings amongst the US jewish population.

What can Abbas offer Israel? Can they offer Israel a stable Gaza, a peaceful Jenin, a recognition of the Jewish State, land? Anything of value? or just more of the same false promises of peace as Arabs grab more land?