“Jerusalem, Israel” on The Daily Caller

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel set up three massive white tents at its main southern seaport on Thursday to hold hundreds of pro-Palestinian activists who hope to breach Israel’s 3-year blockade of the Gaza Strip. (more)

If the Middle East peace process were a stock, it would be one of the riskiest investments on the market. But there are bullish indicators for renewed peace talks between the Israelis and Palestinians. (more)

JERUSALEM (AP) — Former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who was driven from office last year while facing mounting corruption charges, has been identified as a prime suspect in a separate bribery case, police said Thursday. (more)

Sarah Palin’s speech at the 2010 Southern Republican Leadership Conference in New Orleans proved one thing for sure: Palin is ready for the next step, whatever it may be. (more)

I was wrong about my professor. (more)

The US reportedly wants a four-month Israeli building freeze in occupied east Jerusalem, one of a series of demands from Washington aimed at reigniting dormant peace talks. (more)

(Reuters) – The Obama administration’s pressure on Israel to curb settlement activity will bolster Palestinian hardliners and hinder peace efforts, a senior Israeli cabinet minister said on Monday. (more)

If the king of Saudi Arabia were to be invited to the White House, President Obama would make the usual deep bow, have a long conversation with lots of photo ops, and then give the king a grand halal dinner. But it was not a Muslim king who was the honored guest last week. It was the Jewish Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, here to provide the president with another opportunity to embarrass himself and the United States. (more)

Is a U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) briefing team from Gen. David Petraeus, rather than Israeli construction in East Jerusalem and Vice President Joe Biden’s embarrassment in Israel, at the heart of the current rift in U.S.-Israel relations, or is it just an excuse? (more)

Israel is “playing with fire” in expanding Jewish settlements in annexed Arab east Jerusalem and attempting to alter the Holy City’s identity, Jordan’s King Abdullah II said on Thursday. (more)

JERUSALEM – The Jerusalem municipality has approved 20 new apartments for Jews in east Jerusalem, the city said Wednesday, even as Israel’s leader is in Washington on a fence-mending visit. (more)

Although families of workers for the United States Consulate have vacated Mexico after three Americans were killed leaving a birthday party, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Secretary of Homeland Security Janet A. Napolitano have booked a trip there for next week. (more)

Dazzled by yesterday’s vote on health care, Washington media dropped the visit of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu into the business as usual box. As this column is being posted, Bibi begins his Washington agenda with a visit to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Tonight he dines with Vice President Biden. Tomorrow evening he has the fourth meeting with President Obama since they have been in office. After all this happens, commentators around the world will focus on the recent spat over Israeli housing in the Ramat Shlomo sector of East Jerusalem, and how the prime minister smoothed it over with Washington. But there is an undercurrent in this visit far more significant to the United States and world peace than a mere 1,600 houses. (more)

Full disclosure: I support a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians — consistent with Israel’s security. But even I, a strong supporter of the peace process, was shocked when I heard my own government “condemn” Israel and “summon” its ambassador to the State Department shortly before the Sabbath last Friday night to be read a harsh “démarche” (letter of condemnation) by the department’s second-highest official. And if that isn’t enough, the statements were immediately leaked to the press, indicating that the U.S.-Israel “relationship” was “at risk.” (more)

JERUSALEM — Hundreds of Palestinians in East Jerusalem set tires and garbage bins ablaze yesterday and hurled rocks at Israeli riot police, who responded with rubber bullets and tear gas. The heaviest clashes in months broke out as a US envoy abruptly canceled a visit, deepening a diplomatic feud. (more)

George Mitchell had been due to meet President Shimon Peres but the trip was put off in what was seen as a calculated snub designed to demonstrate continued US anger. (more)

Vice President Joe Biden’s condemnation of the decision by Israel to approve a construction project in a Jewish neighborhood in east Jerusalem became the focus of his visit to the Holy Land, at least as far as the international media are concerned. But for average Israelis, both Jews and Arabs, Biden’s visit caused problems of a much more practical nature — major traffic jams. (more)

JERUSALEM — Relations between Israel and the United States have hit a 35-year low, Israel’s ambassador in Washington said amid simmering tensions between the two key allies. (more)

What happened in Israel this week is still coming into focus—but what is already clear is that it turned a relatively low-key visit by Vice President Joe Biden into a bona fide diplomatic incident. (more)

Israeli authorities are considering plans for at least another 8,000 homes in settlements in East Jerusalem, it emerged today, despite the latest collapse in proposed peace talks with the Palestinians. (more)