Page 12 - Settlement Activity News Today

There have been. there been strains in the u.s. israeli relationship during various administrations. i remember in 1990 george h.w. bush was president, james baker secretary of state. they werent happy with the new israeli president. and baker was testifying before the house foreign affairs committee in 90 when that irritation publicly burst open. >> everybody over there should know the telephone number is 1-202-456-1414. when you are sere s you about these, call us. >> reporter: what happened a...

Reside on them coming to a deal with border security and dealing with both sides whether they need to think about mutual interests. that is not happening. they are saying look into the abyss and how bad things can be for both sides. the problem is that neither side senses that it has that accountability for the other. they are escalating each side incrementally and that netanyahu solely in israeli interest or abbas solely in palestinian interest, this is an escalation that increases the stakes f...

In seeing major gains from negotiations which collapsed earlier this spring. and his political space is weakened within his own party. hes got the challenge from hamas in the gaza strip that criticized the move and wants the palestinians to do even more forceful measures through the u.n. so i think he was trying to get some sort of propaganda victory, but i fear it ends up making him seem weaker in this context. it mystifies people they went to this vote at this time with some of the new members...

Right things, what happens next? that is the question israelis and palestinians are asking now. craig? >> diana, thats the view from the israelis. what was the view from the palestinians perspective of the presidents visit? >> we were expecting that a president who has given billions of u.s. dollars to israel that he would have come with a message telling the israelis that it is time to completely stop their settlement activity and if they dont stop their settlement activity urge the u.s. dollar...

Obama term what he said very clearly was that israels settlement activity had to stop. he made it home demolitions had to stop and what he is now saying is that it is not so much that home demolitions have to stop, and he didnt even call for a settlement freeze. instead he said that there should be no conditions placed before negotiations, and in other words what he is saying is that israel is allowed to continue to eat up palestinian land and the palestinians have to sit down and deal with it a...

Same thing in the george w. bush administration i was also a professional middle east advisor there. i just think its not going to happen. there was no discussion here about halting settlements which is critical. you can say theyre critical, make me uncomfortable. its not talking about the 67 borders. those are things needed for the say. we get confused for our hope for peace and reality for a state. what palestinians want and need and arabs and muslims want and need is a state for the palestini...

The palestinians. the president speaking in very careful, diplomatic terms, talks about the israeli settlements in the west bank. he says the united states doesnt consider continued settlement activity to be constructive or appropriate, but he says he doesnt think its everything that both sides want to happen has to by perfect before both sides get to negotiating. >> thats absolutely right it will be a hard process, and you used the word difficult several times. no question, this is a starting p...

The current conflict. they like the status quo, the arrangement as it is. but i think that the majority is out there who right now dont feel helpful, but still would strongly support both palestinian and israeli leadership that made the necessary effort and compromises. now, one of the challenges, continued settlement activity in the west bank area. and i am clear with prime minister netanyahu and other israeli leadership. it has been the united states policy, not just for my administration, but...

Will be able to deal with each other the same way all two states do. the united states and canada have once in a while. and i think we can -- we can keep pushing through with these problems. and make sure we dont use them as an excuse not to do anything. >> questions from the u.s. delegation and then the last questions. major garrett of cbs. >> mr. president obama. on behalf of my colleagues, i want to get more specific on the questions of settlement and the overall peace process. when you start...

And contiguous palestinian state as the home land of the palestinian people, alongside the jewish state of israel, two nations enjoying self-determination, security, and peace. as ive said many times, the only way to achieve that goal is through direct negotiations between israelis and palestinians themselves. there is no short cut to a sustainable solution. in our discussion with president abbas, i heard him speak out about the difficult issues that cannot be ignored. among them, problems cause...