Middle East diplomacy - Page 21

US Secretary of State John Kerry said Friday that Israel and the US could still make progress toward the two-state solution to the Israeli Palestinian conflict in the coming months and that Israel could work with Mideast allies to achieve more stability in the region.

President Barack Obama is poised to veto legislation exposing Saudi Arabia to court action over the 9/11 attacks, stepping in to defend legal precedent and an awkward ally, but inviting election-time opprobrium.

Aviation giants Airbus and Boeing Co. have received permission from the U.S. government to sell aircraft to Iran, part of landmark deals potentially worth some $50 billion in total following last year’s nuclear accord.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in New York on Tuesday hoping to convince the international community of the need for one standard in fighting terrorism, only to be greeted by a speech from the head of the UN that slammed Israel and made no mention of Palestinian terrorism.

U.S.-led coalition air strikes reportedly killed dozens of Syrian soldiers on Saturday, endangering a U.S.-Russian brokered ceasefire and prompting an emergency U.N. Security Council meeting as tensions between Moscow and Washington escalated.

The United States on Wednesday signed a landmark agreement to provide Israel with $38 billion in military assistance over the next decade, the largest such aid package in US history.

The Times of Israel reports: The Hamas terror group recently rejected an Israeli offer to free 18 Palestinians and hand over 19 bodies seized during the 2014 war in Gaza in exchange for the bodies of two IDF soldiers who

Turkey has asked Washington to arrest US-based preacher Fethullah Gulen for “ordering” the July 15 coup bid which was aimed at ousting the government, state media reported on Tuesday.

A Syria ceasefire billed as the “last chance” for peace appeared to be holding on its first full day Tuesday, with residents across the country reporting a quiet night and anxious for aid.

No meeting between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been set up at the end of the month at the UN, a senior source in the Prime Minister’s Office said Thursday, following a Channel 1 report to the contrary.

A ceasefire in Syria brokered by Russia and the United States is due to begin at sundown Monday, after scores of civilians were killed in a bloody weekend of strikes.

After long and arduous negotiations, Israel and the Obama administration have agreed on a landmark military aid package that would increase U.S. aid to Israel over the next 10 years.

The United Nations Department of Public Information held a media seminar in Pretoria, South Africa earlier this month on peace in the Middle East. The stated goal of the three-day seminar was to bring together “politicians, academics and other experts exploring new ways to narrate the complex and evolving story of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”

Despite the Islamic State group’s loss of territory, the Islamic extremists will continue to pose serious national security problems for the United States and Europe in coming years, the directors of the FBI and CIA said Thursday.

Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton defended the Iranian nuclear deal, during a televised national security forum on MSNBC where she and Republican rival Donald Trump each fielded 30 minutes of questions about their experience and judgment to be commander in chief.

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said Tuesday that an aide to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had suggested delaying a proposed meeting between the two leaders in Moscow on Friday.

The Syrian conflict is entering a highly unpredictable phase, the former head of the Israeli domestic security agency said on Monday, adding that the Iranian-backed militia Hezbollah posed a growing threat to Israel despite losing many fighters.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is considering an offer by Russian President Vladimir Putin to host talks in Moscow between the Israeli leader and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Netanyahu’s office said on Monday.

The United States is committed to bringing the perpetrators of the attempted coup against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to justice, President Barack Obama said Sunday.

Turkish aid for the Gaza Strip has been sent from the country’s southern coast for the second time since relations were normalised between Israel and Ankara in June, a Turkish official said Saturday.

HANGZHOU, China — The U.S. and Russia are near completing a groundbreaking deal that involves military and intelligence cooperation to fight al Qaeda and ISIS-linked terrorists in Syria.

Turkey, which patched up strained ties with Israel and Russia, aims to normalize relations with Egypt and even rebuild ties in future with Syria, where it has launched a cross-border offensive, the prime minister said on Friday.

WASHINGTON – The United States and its negotiating partners agreed “in secret” to allow Iran to evade some restrictions in last year’s landmark nuclear agreement in order to meet the deadline for it to start getting relief from economic sanctions, according to a report.

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday shook the hand of an Israeli diplomatic official for the first time since Jerusalem and Ankara agreed on a reconciliation deal in June.

Palestinian officials have recently met with White House stuff to discuss the prospect of launching a new American effort to resume Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations after November’s presidential elections, a Palestinian source told Breitbart Jerusalem.

In the sleepy hillside town in al-Balqa, not far from the Jordan Valley, a grand project is taking shape. The Middle East’s new particle accelerator – the Synchrotron-Light for Experimental Science and Applications, or Sesame – is being built.

The Merkel administration said it was “very worried about the human rights situation in Iran. Hope for an improvement of the situation under the Rouhani government has until now not been fulfilled.”

The UN Security Council warned Tuesday that violations of the cessation of hostilities agreement between Lebanon and Israel could lead to a new conflict “that none of the parties or the region can afford.”

After a scathing UN investigation, the White House said Wednesday it was “impossible to deny” that Syria had launched chemical weapon attacks, while calling for President Bashar al-Assad’s regime to be held accountable.

Germany’s military is preparing to pull out from a Turkish airbase as a row between the two NATO partners escalates, Der Spiegel magazine reported Thursday.

JAFFA, Israel – Iran is actively trying to bring Turkey and Syria closer together, according to a report in the international Saudi publication Asharq Al-Awsat, headquartered in London.

The New York Times has a staff editorial that attempts the extremely difficult task of defending the Obama administration’s payment of $400 million in cash in European currency, stacked on wooden pallets in an unmarked cargo plane, to the terror-supporting government of Iran in exchange for the release of three American hostages.

The Syrian government condemned Wednesday’s Turkish incursion into the Islamic State group-held border district of Jarabulus as a “flagrant violation” of its sovereignty.

US Vice President Joe Biden arrived in Turkey on Wednesday for critical talks with its leadership as Ankara launched a military operation to drive Islamic State jihadists out of a key Syrian border town.

Israel and Turkey this week will begin the process of exchanging ambassadors as the former allies continued the formal renewal of diplomatic relations after a six-year rift, Turkey’s foreign minister said Tuesday.

A high-ranking Israeli delegation met with Egyptian officials on Sunday in Cairo, according Egyptian media reports.