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A number of people have written to me to tell me Brzezinski, either is not on Obama's foreign team or is just one member of it. Ever since Brzezinski introduced Obama last summer, Brzezinski has remained in the background for fear of alienating Obama's Jewish support. It makes little difference because all the others on the team are generally in agreement with his policies. Now Lee Hamilton has officially joined the team. And as you know Hamilton and Brzezinski are joined at the hip. They both were on the Iraq Study Group and they both signed a letter among others,...

UNITED NATIONS — UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has invited Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia to a meeting this month of the Middle East Quartet seeking a diplomatic solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The foreign ministers of the three Arab countries will join their counterparts from Russia, the United States and EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini for the talks on September 30, the UN spokesman said Friday. The secretary general of the Arab League will also attend the meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly gathering of world leaders. The invitation follows a decision by the Quartet in...

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden on Monday urged Israel to seize this moment in history to make peace with the Palestinian Authority (PA), AFP reported. Biden’s comments were made in a meeting with President Shimon Peres, hours after both paid their last respects to former Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon, who was buried on Monday. The meeting focused on the U.S.-led direct peace talks between the sides, which resumed in July. "The one place (in the region) where there's a possibility for an island of stability ... is between the Palestinian people and the Israeli people, in two secure states...

These kids will put a smile on your face on this, the 4th day of Advent. http://www.flixxy.com/kids-lip-syncing-a-wonderful-christmas-song.htm

Tony Blair was in Jerusalem ­yesterday to urge Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu: “Give peace a chance.” The ex-Labour Prime Minister, now a go-between in new Middle East peace talks, told Israel’s leader to get a move on with ­concessions to the Palestinians. Mr Netanyahu agreed to free at least 100 Palestinians who have been held in Israeli jails for more than 20 years. In return it is expected that the Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas will relax his demand that a future Palestinian state must be based on the border from before the 1967 Six-Day War. Hopes of lasting peace in...

A $4 billion foreign investment package to boost peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians will not be considered unless US Secretary of State John Kerry succeeds in bringing the negotiating parties back to the table, The Times of Israel has learned. “[This package] is not intended as a substitute for the political process,” a Western diplomatic source told The Times of Israel on Wednesday. “It will be launched either in parallel or after the political track is resumed, as judged by John Kerry.” Kerry is scheduled to return to Israel later this week in an effort to relaunch negotiations...

AL SHUNAH, Jordan: US Secretary of State John Kerry unveiled on Sunday a plan to boost the Palestinian economy by attracting $4 billion in private investment, saying it could transform the lives of the people. As he seeks to bring Israel and the Palestinians back to the table to negotiate a peace deal, Kerry said it was also imperative to create jobs and meet the hopes of young people for a better economic future. He has tasked Tony Blair, the Quartet's special envoy to the Middle East, with drawing up a plan to revitalise the West Bank through boosting industries...

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas responded on Sunday to Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman’s letter to the International Quartet, in which he called for Abbas to be replaced. Lieberman “doesn’t deserve an answer”, Abbas told an Army Radio reporter on the sidelines of a meeting with members of the Meretz party in Ramallah. He then added, “When he talks about the use of diplomatic terror he does not deserve anything. Everyone knows that we want peace between the two states, and for them to live and stability and security.” Lieberman wrote in his letter to the European Union’s foreign policy chief...

A meeting in Jordan between Israeli and PA negotiators in Jordan ended Monday night with no new breakthroughs reported. Israeli negotiator Yitzchak Molcho met with PA negotiator Saeb Erekat in Amman. The meeting was hosted by the Quartet and Jordan. This was the second meeting between the two since talks were revived several weeks ago. Another meeting is set to take place over the weekend...

LONDON (AP) — Middle East envoy Tony Blair says Barack Obama launched his peace initiative because he's concerned about what might happen to Israel if Palestinians unilaterally declare statehood. Blair told an audience of business leaders gathered in central London on Thursday that Obama is "frankly worried about the position that Israel is in." The ex-prime minister says that Obama's initiative — rejected by Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu — is "an attempt to fill a vacuum which he sees as dangerous, particularly dangerous for Israel in the run-up to September." Mideast watchers have speculated that Washington launched its peace initiative...

Palestinian Authority chief negotiator Saeb Erekat denied on Thursday that PA and Israeli representatives would meet in Jordan to discuss restarting peace talks on January 23. "It was said that there are meetings and calls for meetings in Jordan between an Israeli and a Palestinian delegation with the Quartet. This talk is not true. We did not receive anything from them," Erekat told Voice of Palestine radio on Thursday. "My view is that anyone who tries to get around the point that Israel must halt settlement and accept the '67 borders is only wasting their time," Erekat added. The Quartet...

Last month, the Palestinian Authority asked the UN Security Council for recognition as an independent state. With no decision yet made, President Mahmoud Abbas is now applying to more world bodies for full membership, as he sidesteps peace negotiations with Israel. The latest move: an application for membership to UNESCO, the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Last Wednesday, the Palestinians cleared their first hurdle as UNESCO’s executive board agreed to allow a vote on their request. The Palestinians are also trying to enter the World Trade Organization and last week succeeded in obtaining partnership status in the Council of...

The head of the Jewish Home faction, Minister Daniel Hershkovitz, said Sunday that the idea raised by the Middle East Quartet for speedy negotiations with the Palestinian Authority (PA) is "really funny" because there is no PA partner for peace. The Quartet – the United States, United Nations, Russia and the European Union – suggested a timetable for talks that would begin within one month and set the end of 2012 as a new deadline for an agreement between Israel and the PA. Hershkovitz said that he would make the negotiations period even shorter if it were possible to negotiate...

Abbas, after rebuffing President Barack Obama, now has taken on the Quartet and rejected its proposal for resuming talks with Israel because it does not include pre-conditions. The Quartet – the United States, United Nations, Russia and the European Union – set a timetable for an agenda for peace talks within a month and concrete proposals within three months. It also set the end of 2012 as a new deadline for an agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. PA Foreign Minister Riad Maliki quickly rejected the idea as “incomplete” because it does not call on Israel to halt all...

NEW YORK—The Mideast Quartet on Tuesday continued its efforts to find a means to find a way to renew Israel-Palestinian peace talks and avoid “unilateral” moves ahead of a possible diplomatic showdown over the Palestinian statehood bid. A European diplomat told The Mideast Update by email on Tuesday morning that “discussions are continuing,” and another meeting for Quartet envoys had been set for Tuesday afternoon. Another European diplomat

Dem Party leaders mobilizing to solidify president's standing with Jewish voters to counter image Obama not friend of Israel... NYT setting story for lead Thursday, newsroom sources tell DRUDGE... Comes after shock defeat of Dem candidate... DEVELOPING...

Vice Prime Minister Silvan Shalom at Tel Aviv conference: Abbas and Fayyad are committed to peace. There's no alternative to negotiations. .....

Israel is sitting pretty. Sure she has problems, but her future is bright. Even her present is not too shabby. Of immediate concern, is the attempt by the PA to gain recognitions and membership in the UN in the upcoming session in September. To this end the PA has agreed with Hamas to unify, thinking it would strengthen their case at the UN. Not so fast. Actually unification is proving more difficult to achieve then implied, due to irreconcilable differences. These differences have more to do with tactics rather than goals, they both want to destroy the Jewish state, and...

Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu will present a new Mideast peace initiative at the AIPAC convention in May in the US. A senior diplomatic source in Jerusalem said the plan focuses on the recognition of a Palestinian state within temporary borders and security arrangements for Israel. The source said the plan offers the easing of restrictions on the Palestinians but with an emphasis on Israel's intention to continue construction in the large settlement blocks and in Jerusalem. Sources in Jerusalem say that Israel has indicated to the quartet that regarding the peace process with the Palestinians, it prefers the Jerusalem Washington...

NOTE The following text is a quote: www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/statement-press-secretary-israel-s-announcement-gaza Home • Briefing Room • Statements & Releases The White House Office of the Press Secretary For Immediate Release June 20, 2010 Statement by the Press Secretary on Israel’s announcement on Gaza The President has described the situation in Gaza as unsustainable and has made clear that it demands fundamental change. On June 9, he announced that the United States was moving forward with $400 million in initiatives and commitments for the West Bank and Gaza. The President described these projects as a down payment on the U.S. commitment to the people...