http://blogs.jta.org/politics/article/2009/08/27/1007497/dont-believe-what-you-read

By Eric Fingerhut · August 27, 2009

Lara Friedman at Americans for Peace Now blasts a Haaretz report today that the United States has dropped its demand for a settlement freeze in eastern Jerusalem. She notes that the writer of the story, Barak Ravid, "has repeatedly reported rumor and spin as news (including his reporting, not once but twice, that the Israeli Ambassador in Washington was 'summoned' to the State Department, when both times this is not what happened, as confirmed by other journalists)":

Peace Now says court's intervention required before buildings become 'another testament to demise of rule of law as it applies to Israeli population in West Bank'

READ Articles from Ynet & The Jerusalem Post

"Israel says it is nearing agreement with the US on settlement building in the occupied West Bank, after its PM held talks with a US envoy in London."

Aug. 26, 2009

by Shimon Shiffer et al.

In the course of his meeting with Brown, Netanyahu said that he would keep his promise to allow normal life to continue for the settlers. In other words, construction would continue to expand current settlements as well as public facilities -- but no new settlements would be created.

by Hagit Ofran, Peace Now Settlement Watch Director

Posted: August 26, 2009 04:00 PM

Following the meeting between US Senator Mitchell and Israeli PM Netanyahu, it seems that Israel and the US are getting close to some kind of agreement or understanding about a settlement freeze.

A settlement freeze is one of the key factors in order to enable a resumption of peace talks.

Unfortunately, I doubt I have to begin to look for another job. Settlement activity will always be one of the most important issues on the political agenda of our region.

8/25/09

Walla.co.il (online service) by Yehoshua Breier -- On the eve of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's meeting with special US envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell, in which the two men will discuss a settlement construction freeze, among other issues, today the Binyamin Regional Council has scheduled a tour for construction contractors in the settlement Neriya.

http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1110003.html

08/25/2009

By Chaim Levinson, Haaretz Correspondent

Defense Minister Ehud Barak intends to evacuate all unauthorized West Bank outposts within weeks.

"The defense minister has declared a number of times that the evacuation of illegal outposts is our obligation as a democratic state," Barak's office said in a statement released Tuesday. "This is a process which will be implemented in weeks, not years."

Ynet: "MKs, leftists tour West Bank outposts" followed by JTA: "Left-wing Israeli lawmakers visit outposts" & Ha'aretz: "Left-wing activists and MKs tour outposts, call for them to come down By Chaim Levinson, Haarez Correspondent"

ARTICLES from Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, AP, and Ynet appear below viedoes

VIDEOS

http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/middleeast/news/article_1496937.php/Peace-unlikely-even-in-16-years-Israeli-Foreign-Minister-Roundup
 
Aug 23, 2009

Jerusalem - Israel and the Palestinians have been unable to reach a peace deal in the 16 years since the signing of the Oslo interim peace accords, and it is likely they will be not do so in the next 16 years, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Sunday.

8/23/09

Ynet: "Minister Landau: Ya'alon was right - look at the Swedes"

by Roni Sofer

Government ministers slam Swedish organ harvesting report, while Yisrael Beiteinu's Landau lashes out at 'heavy damage caused to the State of Israel by Peace Now, the elites and the media.' Interior minister says won't grant work permits to Swedish newspaper's reporters
 
Ynet: "Peace Now: Landau inciting against Israel's Left"
 
Peace Now Secretary-General Yariv Oppenheimer said in response to the minister of national infrastructure that "Uzi Landau is continuing a dangerous incitement campaign against Israel's Left and encouraging an atmosphere of violence".

Read articles from Ynet, Ha'aretz, Yedioth Achronoth, Jerusalem Post, JTA, and Reuters, Ynet.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/hagit-ofran/partial-freeze-on-israeli_b_264132.html

Posted: August 20, 2009 03:17 PM

President Obama, following his meeting with President Mubarak, said yesterday: "There has been movement in the right direction" referring to the reports in the Israeli media that the government of Israel agreed to freeze construction in the settlements and not to issue new construction-tenders until the end of 2009. On one hand, we should be happy, because such a freeze proves that even an extreme right wing government cannot ignore the White House and run wild and build in the territories without limits. But on the other hand, the tenders which the government is freezing, are only a small part of the construction in the territories. On the ground there are several projects under construction in the settlements.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gu040uEqBseQOYD0qpM5tCIElsPQ

By Ron Bousso (AFP) - 8/20/09

JERUSALEM -- Israel's hawkish premier on Tuesday agreed to curtail construction in the occupied West Bank in a gesture to Washington that critics said fell far short of US demands for a settlement freeze.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defence Minister Ehud Barak and Housing Minister Ariel Atias agreed no new tenders for settlement construction in the West Bank should be issued until early 2010.

http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1108779.html

08/20/2009

By Yossi Verter, Haaretz Correspondent

Why has ex-IDF chief Ya'alon allied himself to a far-rightist who Netanyahu called 'cancer' within Likud?

Had we not seen it, we would not have believed it: The vice prime minister, a senior Likud member and close confidant of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a member of the six-member diplomatic-security forum, hanging around with the man whom Netanyahu tried with all his might to oust from Likud, the man Netanyahu defines as "a cancer at the
heart of the movement."

http://www.reuters.com/articlePrint?articleId=USN20533284

Thu Aug 20, 2009

Obama urges Israel, Palestinians and Arab states to act

* Obama call follows conversation with Jordan's king

* Israel, Arabs disagree on who should make first move (Adds details and quotes)

By Matt Spetalnick

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-israel-settlements19-2009aug19,0,717563.story

Israel's prime minister has defended such projects in the West Bank. But officials say he is also quietly seeking a compromise that would facilitate a revival of peace talks with Palestinians.

By Richard Boudreaux
August 19, 2009

http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1917389,00.html

By Matthew Kalman / Har Bracha Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2009

Har Bracha -- the Mount of Blessing -- is a windswept hilltop settlement of Jews overlooking the Palestinian city of Nablus. According to biblical tradition, it is where Joshua and the children of Israel first entered the Holy Land. And, on Aug. 18, Mike Huckabee -- a Baptist preacher, two-time governor of Arkansas and once and perhaps future Republican presidential candidate -- received a heartfelt blessing from the local Orthodox Jewish minister.

http://jta.org/news/article/2009/08/18/1007314/israeli-officials-reportedly-agree-to-building-freeze

August 18, 2009

JERUSALEM (JTA) -- Israeli officials reportedly have agreed to freeze construction in the West Bank until the beginning of 2010.

JTA first reported the unofficial freeze on July 6.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Housing Minister Ariel Atias have agreed to a moratorium on building in the settlements in order to give the peace process a chance to move forward, several news outlets reported this week.

http://www.reuters.com/articlePrint?articleId=USTRE57H2B920090818

Tue Aug 18, 2009

By Jeffrey Heller

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has refrained from initiating new housing projects in Israeli settlements in the West Bank, hoping to reach common ground with Washington, a government minister said on Tuesday.

"Since the government was established five months ago, no tenders have been issued for Judea and Samaria," Housing Minister Ariel Atias said, referring to government invitations for bids for new construction in West Bank settlements.

Source: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ioi_0jtO9RjMwPNRoXNCndRPRq3gD9A581EO0 (link has expired)

By MATTI FRIEDMAN (AP) - 8/18/09

JERUSALEM -- Israel has quietly stopped approving new building projects in the West Bank while publicly still refusing U.S. demands for an official settlement freeze, government officials said Tuesday.

President Barack Obama's administration has pushed Israel to shelve all settlement construction to allow peace talks to go forward, a demand Israel has said it cannot accept. The issue has grown into a rare public disagreement between the two close allies.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3763339,00.html
 

08.17.09

US Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee's visit to disputed east Jerusalem building site at Shepherd Hotel met with demonstrations from both sides of political spectrum as some 150 right- and left-wing protestors gather outside site. MK Uri Ariel: We are building and will continue to build in Jerusalem. Peace Now: Part of larger plan to commandeer east Jerusalem
 
by Ronen Medzini

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1249418620948&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Aug. 16, 2009
Abe Selig , THE JERUSALEM POST

A Monday reception featuring former US presidential hopeful and leading Republican politician Mike Huckabee at the Shepherd Hotel in east Jerusalem has turned into a hotly contested venue for protests both for and against Israeli policy in the area.

Two groups - Peace Now and Im Tirtzu - have called for a protest and counter-protest, respectively, on Monday evening, to coincide with the former Arkansas governor's planned appearance at the disputed east Jerusalem landmark. The groups represent either side of the growing debate over Jewish building rights in the annexed parts of the capital.

Aug. 12, 2009
Tovah Lazaroff , THE JERUSALEM POST

The Civil Administration has issued stop-work orders on 12 modular homes that it claims have been illegally placed at the edge of a street on a hilltop within the Kochav Ya'acov settlement.

Rumors swirled on Wednesday that the Civil Administration had issued demolition orders on the homes, of which at least two are already inhabited by newly arrived French immigrants. The Civil Administration said it had not yet done so, but planned to pursue the matter of the illegal homes.

http://cgis.jpost.com/Blogs/oppenheimer/entry/hope_from_bethlehem_posted_by

Thursday Aug 06, 2009 
 
At its convention in Bethlehem this week, Fatah refused to recognize Israel as a Jewish state or adopt Hebrew as its official language, and didn't conclude with a rendition of HaTikva (Israel's national anthem). What a disappointment, what a blow to the champions of peace.

August 4, 2009

Broad condemnation of the eviction of Palestinians in east Jerusalem reflects growing international anger over settlements

by Ian Black

It isn't necessary to be unduly cynical to wonder exactly what it takes for British diplomats to be "appalled" by anything. But that was the reaction to Israel's eviction of Palestinian families from the east Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah - the ugly face of ethnic cleansing and the creation of new "facts on the ground" that make nonsense of hopes for any movement in the moribund peace process.

Aug 4, 2009

by Roi Sharon -- Clear air, a desert view, a swimming pool, a Jacuzzi and an ecological environment. This is not a moshav in the Arava, not even an hotel on the Dead Sea--but rather an outpost beyond the Green Line, in eastern Binyamin. After the settlements realized that they could also make money from tourism, recently even the illegal outposts have begun to offer B&Bs. In the outpost of Mitzpe Hagit in the Judean Desert, and also a few kilometers north of there in the Keda outpost, two guest cabins were put up that overlook the Jordan Valley.

Peace Now claims that the entire outpost is built on private Palestinian land. The larger petition against the outpost, which has 17 permanent homes and 15 caravans, was filed by eight Palestinian farmers from the village of El Khader, together with Peace Now.

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Yariv Oppenheimer, the secretary general of Peace Now, is not optimistic about a peace breakthrough. If the regional settlement sought by Obama was to be attained, Oppenheimer said, Israel needed a "big leader" such as Ariel Sharon.