When you've spent years working to bring peace to Israel and to build support for that idea, watching someone else kick it around like a political football is just too much to swallow without speaking up.

The Israeli High Court responded favorably to a Peace Now petition about following through on the mandated removal of two West Bank outposts.

Ha'aretz: "High Court orders Israel to speed up outpost demolitions"

Ynet: "State on illegal outpost: Delay in relocating settlers"

AFP: "Quarter of Israeli settlements violate building ban: group"

Ha'aretz: "U.S. denies dropping demand for Israel settlement freeze"

Reuters: "Abbas seeks U.S. answers before talking to Israel"

According to Defense Ministry figures, construction continues in dozens of settlements in violation of building moratorium. Peace Now: 'Begin was right - freeze means nothing'

Jerusalem Post: "29 settlements defy freeze order"

Ynet: "Defense Ministry: Building in 29 settlements despite freeze"

BBC News: "Israeli settlers 'still building'"

JTA: "Many settlements violating building freeze, Israel says"

Ha'aretz: "Defense Ministry reveals West Bank settlement freeze abuses"

By Nathan Guttman

Published February 03, 2010, issue of February 12, 2010.

Washington -- A congressional letter calling on the United States to press for the lifting of the blockades imposed by Israel and Egypt on Gaza has sparked controversy within the Jewish community.

Picture: Reps. Jim McDermott (left) and Keith Ellison sponsored effort to ease blockade on movement of civilian goods.

"We have argued from the start that this is bad legislation and the Obama administration has made clear that it agrees," APN President and CEO Debra DeLee said in a statement on the measure.

By HILARY LEILA KRIEGER

By MATTHEW WAGNER

At Pollard's request, Rabbi Ya'acov Shapira will work to strengthen Jewish hold on disputed east J'lem house.

At the request of Jonathan Pollard, Rabbi Ya'acov Shapira, head of the Merkaz Harav Yeshiva, will launch various educational and spiritual activities designed to strengthen the Jewish hold on a disputed house in east Jerusalem.

Speaking at an Americans for Peace Now luncheon in honor of APN activist and Jewish community leader Irwin Levin, Berman (D-CA) said: "Over the years, I discovered two things: first, I learned that there were indeed many Palestinians who were prepared to accept Israel and who genuinely believe in coexistence. Second, I discovered the immense toll the occupation is taking on Israel."

By Donald Macintyre in Jerusalem

Demonstrations against evictions of Palestinians to make way for Jewish settlers

At least 15 protesters were arrested yesterday as several hundred left-wing Israelis held their biggest demonstration yet against demolitions and evictions of east Jerusalem Palestinians designed to make way for Jewish settlers.

By Nir Hasson

Hundreds of left-wing activists, including several prominent politicians, protested in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in East Jerusalem on Friday.

The protest has become a weekly event in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, held to protest a Jewish takeover of Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem through the use of ownership documents dating from the period of the British mandate in Palestine.

Yedioth Ahronoth (p. B8) by Uri Misgav -- On the hilltop stands a building, like a colonial palace in the Third World. Around it lie the barren pastures of the surrounding villages, a flock of sheep chewing the grass, and two Palestinian shepherds suspiciously eyeing the construction.

E.B. SOLOMONT, Jpost correspondent in New York , THE JERUSALEM POST

NEW YORK - Inside a glittering New York City ballroom on Wednesday night, several hundred people turned out to support the construction of Jewish housing near an Arab-populated part of east Jerusalem.

Increasingly, you hear them at public events and symposia. You read their analyses in the press and on blogs. They are the "no-solutionists."

Ultra-skeptical, hypercynical, often giddy about their political nihilism, they typically argue something along these lines: "As a realist, I realize that there are problems in this world that simply can't be resolved. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is one of them."

By Josh Nathan-Kazis

An early January announcement that Israeli authorities had approved a new Jewish settlement on the campus of an American-funded yeshiva in East Jerusalem came just weeks after President Obama issued a statement condemning new Israeli construction in the area.

When I returned to Israel in the summer of 2000, following a four-year stay in the West Coast, I had two job offers. Ha'aretz offered me the Israeli-Arab beat, covering Jewish-Arab relations in Israel. And Yediot Ahronot offered me a unique beat, which would be created especially for me: the positive beat. All the time we only report bad stuff, the editor explained to me. We need good news and we need someone to proactively pursue good news, to make it his beat, the editor said.

• Jerusalem Post: "Isolated settlements kept on 'priority map' - to Labor's dismay"
• CNN: "West Bank settlements to receive more funding under plan"
• Jerusalem Post: "Ashkelon mayor, Peace Now fume at spending preferences"
• YNET: "Labor ministers: Help periphery, not settlements"
• ARMY RADIO NEWS REPORT
• Jerusalem Post: "Peace Now: Gov't marked high-income settlements as 'priority areas'"
• Ma'ariv: "At Ashkelon's Expense"
  

• AP: "Showdown looms over West Bank construction curb"
• CS Monitor: "Israel settlement freeze shields dismantling of illegal outposts"
• Yedioth Ahronoth: "One Hand Freezes, the Other Invests"
• AP: "Settlers protest in Jerusalem against freeze"
• Jerusalem Post: "West Bank building up despite freeze"
• Time: "Protests Mount Against Israel's Settlement Freeze"

• Jerusalem Post: "Palestinians protest mosque arson"
• AFP: "Officials Blame 'Extremist' Settlers for Arson Attack on West Bank Mosque"
  

Peace Now, Meretz activists place one ton of ice near Defense Ministry's Tel Aviv office during support rally for government plan

by Tal Rabinovsky

Several dozen Peace Now and Meretz activists held a rally across from the Defense Ministry offices in Tel Aviv Tuesday, in support of the settlement freeze.

• UPI: "Israeli soldiers refuse evacuation"
• Ha'aretz: "Troops hold up sign at IDF base: We won't evacuate settlers"

Thousands of people turned out at Tel Aviv's Rabin Square on Saturday night to mark the 14th anniversary of the assassination of prime minister Yitzhak Rabin.

By Akiva Eldar and Chaim Levinson

Human rights activists monitoring the West Bank report that despite commitments Israel made to President Barack Obama's administration last month, widespread building activity commenced three weeks ago in at least 12 settlements.

Peace Now Secretary-General Yariv Oppenheimer said, "The outpost industry will stop at nothing in order to continue thriving."

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Guard at ancient West Bank synagogue site builds illegal shed from which he carries out carpentry work defense officials believe is used for construction of caravans, outposts by settlers. Civil Administration says execution of demolition order pending authorization of political echelon

By Efrat Weiss 

Co Authors Daniel Seidemann is a Jerusalem attorney and founder of Ir Amim, an Israeli nongovernmental agency, and Lara Friedman is director of policy and government relations for Americans for Peace Now.

----------------------------------------------

Jerusalem has once again emerged in recent days as the focal point of dangerous tensions that threaten to erupt into violence or even a third intifada. Much of the media analysis has overlooked the fact that this situation did not arise out of a vacuum, but is the latest manifestation of tensions that have been steadily growing for months.

The first pro-Israel group to praise Obama was Americans for Peace Now.

By Ron Kampeas · October 9, 2009

(JTA) -- The chairman of the Nobel Peace Prize committee cited President Obama's outreach to the Muslim world and his push for Israeli-Arab peace in explaining the shock decision.

Dan Izenberg , THE JERUSALEM POST 

A government decision to oppose Peace Now's request for an interim injunction against the illegal construction of 15 houses in the West Bank settlement of Kiryat Netafim, about 30 km. east of Tel Aviv, proved mistaken when building continued despite stop-work orders issued by the civil administration.

by Mohammed Mar'I, Arab News, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Oct. 6--RAMALLAH -- The anti-settlement Israeli watchdog Peace Now on Monday said 800 housing units have been built in West Bank settlements in the last three months. The movement said in a press statement, after its activists toured a construction site in the West Bank settlement Nokdim not far from Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman's home,...

"Peace Now claims that the entire outpost is built on private Palestinian land"

JPost.com Staff , THE JERUSALEM POST

Touring the Netiv Ha'avot outpost in Gush Etzion along with other members of the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Wednesday, MK Yuli Tamir (Labor) confronted the settlers and reprimanded them for what she said was their illegal presence at the site.

After Obama calls to 'restrain' settlement activity, Ynet learns defense minister authorized additional construction in Karnei Shomron. Peace Now: Barak has become settlers' contractor

by Efrat Weiss 

Defense Minister Ehud Barak has authorized the construction of 37 additional housing units in the West Bank settlement of Karnei Shomron, Ynet learned on Wednesday.

"It's not normal or natural growth, it's a dramatic expansion for a new kind of population," says Hagit Ofran, of the Israeli group Peace Now, which campaigns against settlements.

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As Israeli, Palestinian and US leaders meet again in the long-running saga of Middle East peace talks, the BBC's Martin Asser examines one of the thorniest issues on the agenda. In the first of two articles, he visits an Israeli settlement in the West Bank undergoing a major expansion.

"The difference is in using a magnifying glass to look at this situation in a more detailed, nuanced, studied fashion," said APN spokesman Ori Nir of the group's Iran policy

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

HILARY LEILA KRIEGER, jpost correspondent in Washington

When Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad enters the United Nations to give his General Assembly address in New York this week, he will face an unprecedented coalition of Jewish, Iranian, labor, African-American and other activists demonstrating against his regime.

By Kevin Peraino | NEWSWEEK

From the magazine issue dated Sep 28, 2009

Washington and Jerusalem look closer today to a deal on freezing Israel's West Bank settlement construction than they've been in years. Last week, George Mitchell, the U.S. envoy, suggested that an agreement was imminent, and most observers expect at least a nine-month hiatus to start soon. Even the Israeli government's recent decision to approve 455 new housing units may be a sign that it knows a deal is coming and wants to get a few more buildings in before the deadline.

APN's CEO and President Debra DeLee said that "now is the time to look for ways to signal positive U.S. support for the Iranian people, not to create suffering in order to use that suffering as a weapon against the Iranian leadership."

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By Nathan Guttman

Washington -- As world leaders converge on New York for the annual opening of the United Nations' new session, advocates and Jewish groups are seeking to broaden the coalition that has in years past protested the Tehran regime to include many additional groups that share grievances against Iran.

Key lawyer working on behalf of Peace Now named one of the "Israelis of the year"

by Dan Izenberg , THE JERUSALEM POST

"Crippling sanctions" could give "the Iranian authorities a pretext to discredit and further persecute critics and protesters," APN warned, "and make the lives of the Iranian people more difficult."

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Day of unity yields lawmakers' pledges on Iran sanction

by Robert Wiener, NJJN Staff Writer

Local Jewish leaders joined an intense lobbying effort in Washington last week, joining some 300 colleagues in winning bipartisan congressional support for strengthening sanctions against Iran.

"...Americans of Peace Now (has) criticized the sanctions strategy, saying it would undermine the Obama administration's diplomatic efforts."

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By Eric Fingerhut · September 15, 2009

WASHINGTON (JTA) -- As they prepare to protest the appearance of Iran's president at the United Nations General Assembly, Jewish groups are working to decipher the impact of the Obama administration's decision to hold talks with the Islamic Republic.

Americans for Peace Now (APN), for instance, issued a statement arguing that "arbitrary deadlines are a mistake" and that "pursuing sanctions that target the Iranian people, rather than their leaders, is a morally and strategically perilous path that the Obama Administration must reject".

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by Daniel Luban and Jim Lobe

WASHINGTON, Sep 11 (IPS) - As nuclear negotiations between Iran and the West continue to move slowly, U.S. President Barack Obama is coming under growing pressure from what appears to be a concerted lobbying and media campaign urging him to act more aggressively to stop Iran's nuclear programme.

APN President and CEO Debra DeLee: "...additional sanctions aimed squarely at the ruling regime and its members may make sense, but that the US must not make the mistake of pursuing sanctions that target the Iranian people - like the 'crippling' sanctions currently under consideration."  

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HILARY LEILA KRIEGER, jpost correspondent in washington , THE JERUSALEM POST

Several hundred Jewish leaders and activists are planning to arrive here Thursday to urge top Obama administration officials and US congressmen to take action on Iran.

"Protesters from Peace Now and the right-wing Hatikva party demonstrated outside the event. Peace Now activists handed out ice pops to celebrate the settlement freeze."

by Gil Hoffman , THE JERUSALEM POST

Hundreds of people, including ministers, MKs and Yesha Council heads attend symbolic groundbreaking ceremony for 'Mevaseret Adumim' neighborhood in disputed area outside Jerusalem. 'We won't be the world's sucker anymore,' Deputy Minister Porush says, 'This is our answer to international pressure on settlements'

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.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ioi_0jtO9RjMwPNRoXNCndRPRq3gD9A581EO0

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.

From Opinion.jpost.com

It is sitting right in front of me. A three-page cable from Boston to Jerusalem sent by consul-general Nadav Tamir expressing concern for Israel's international image following recent clashes with the US administration. I have read secret diplomatic cables for 30 years and I can testify that this is the kind of report professional diplomacy was created for.

Without seeing the current diplomatic correspondence (as I am no longer a government official), I can say that this is one of the most important cables sent by an Israeli diplomat this year - or maybe even this decade.

From Washington Jewish Weekly
By Ori Nir

Israelis were recently appalled by reports of sadistic hazing in the Israel Defense Forces' tank corps. Israeli newspapers uncovered routine patterns of beating, lashing, severe humiliation and other forms of brutal behavior toward new recruits.

But it seems that few were truly surprised. In the eyes of many, the story was depicted as one more expression of the growing brutalization of the IDF and of Israeli society. Hardly a day goes by without a murder, a road-rage related stabbing, a heartbreaking case of domestic violence, a Mafia-style drive-by shooting or an incident of teen violence.

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.

The last American president to openly challenge Israel on settlements was George H.W. Bush and we commend President Obama for demanding that Israel halt all new construction. The controversy must not obscure Mr. Obama's real goal: nudging Israel and the Palestinians into serious peace negotiations.

In Jerusalem, where all planning is strategic and all local issues are international, the development of one property can serve as a political move intended to determine the city's future status.

by Gershom Gorenberg | July 30, 2009 | 

By DEBRA DELEE, APN President & CEO 

WASHINGTON (JTA) -- Five left-leaning, pro-Israel organizations teamed up to back the Obama administration's opposition to "unilateral actions" in Jerusalem.

A statement released jointly by Ameinu, Americans for Peace Now, Brit Tzedek v'Shalom, Meretz USA and J Street says that "issues of borders and sovereignty related to Jerusalem should be determined through negotiations in the context of a regional, comprehensive resolution to the Arab-Israeli conflict" and "unilateral actions that inflame tensions, impair negotiations and make the ultimate resolution of issues surrounding Jerusalem more difficult are unhelpful and should be avoided at this particularly sensitive moment."

In his enthusiasm to defend this latest Irving Moskowitz project (the same Irving Moskowitz who was a key player in Netanyahu's Hasmonean Tunnel debacle), Netanyahu gushed: