Israel: No Palestinian peace deal possible now

[oberliner]

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel has concluded that a final peace deal with the Palestinians cannot be reached at this time and is weighing alternatives to try to prove that it is interested in keeping peacemaking with the Palestinians alive, officials said Thursday.

With popular protests shaking up the Mideast, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is under fierce international pressure to prove he is serious about getting peacemaking moving again, especially after the U.S. vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution condemning Israel's West Bank settlement construction last month.

Israeli officials are meeting with international mediators, including U.S. envoy Dennis Ross and representatives of the Quartet of Mideast peacemakers — the U.S., European Union, United Nations and Russia— due to arrive in the region next week.

Government officials say Netanyahu is expected to deliver a major policy speech on peacemaking in the coming weeks, hinting at a change in direction away from direct talks on a peace treaty.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2011-03-03-israel-palestine-talks_N.htm

[FiveGoodMen]

1. Make this your screen background

It'll never change.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

2. that was their story 2 yrs ago, 1 yr ago, 6 mo ago,

1 mo ago, 1 month from now, 1 year from now, 2 years from now.

The savage treatment of Palestinians will come back to haunt Israel.

[azurnoir]

3. well that eplains this- Settlement outpost expands

Settlers began expanding an illegal outpost south of Nablus on Wednesday, local Palestinian officials reported, adding several caravan homes to the area north of the Eli and Shilo settlements.


The expansion came the day after Israeli government officials announced that outposts built on privately owned Palestinian lands would be dismantled. Under the decision, however, other outposts determined to be located on "state land" in the occupied West Bank would be retroactively legalized.


A list of the three outposts set to be dismantled under the new decision was not released, though Israeli peace group Peace Now reports show the Shilo and Eli settlements and their outposts are made up of 55 percent privately owned Palestinian land.

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=364984