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Obama at the UN: Time to Re-Launch Peace Negotiations
 I will continue to seek a just and lasting peace between Israel,
Palestine, and the Arab world....We have made some progress.
Palestinians have strengthened their efforts on security. Israelis have
facilitated greater freedom of movement for the Palestinians. As a
result of these efforts on both sides, the economy in the West Bank has
begun to grow. But more progress is needed. We continue to call on
Palestinians to end incitement against Israel, and we continue to
emphasize that America does not accept the legitimacy of continued
Israeli settlements. The time has come to re-launch negotiations without
preconditions that address the permanent status issues: security for
Israelis and Palestinians, borders, refugees, and Jerusalem. And the
goal is clear: Two states living side by side in peace and security - a
Jewish state of Israel, with true security for all Israelis; and a
viable, independent Palestinian state with contiguous territory that
ends the occupation that began in 1967, and realizes the potential of
the Palestinian people. (White House)
U.S., Allies Say Iran Has Secret Nuclear Facility
by Karen DeYoung and Michael D. Shear
 President Obama's charge that Iran is constructing a secret nuclear
fuel facility brought years of confrontation over the country's alleged
nuclear weapons program to a new crisis point Friday, as he joined with
the leaders of Britain and France to warn that international patience
is waning fast. "Iran is breaking rules that all nations must follow," Obama said,
condemning what he described as a "covert uranium enrichment facility"
that Western intelligence discovered years ago and has since been
covertly monitoring. He called for Iran to allow international
inspectors to "immediately investigate" the facility, located beneath
the mountains near the city of Qom. (Washington Post)
See also Israel: Second Iran Nuke Site for Military Purposes (Ha'aretz)
Obama Drops Demand that Israel Freeze Settlements
by Elise Labott
 Meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and Palestinian Chairman Abbas Tuesday in New York, President Obama dropped a demand for an Israeli settlement freeze, saying that Israel has had meaningful discussions about "restraining" settlement activity. "Obama told Abbas that he couldn't get the settlement freeze and promised to keep trying, but that it shouldn't be a condition for talks and it was time to move on," one Palestinian aide to Abbas said. Several U.S. officials said that Obama told Abbas that although the U.S. believe a settlement freeze would create a better atmosphere for talks to begin, the lack of one should not be used an as excuse not to talk. A senior Israeli diplomat said Israel agreed to not building any new settlements, no outward expansion of existing growth and to only build for "natural" growth within existing settlements. (CNN)
Jews Turn Out for Anti-Iran Demonstrations in NY, DC
 Several thousand people rallied in New York City for
freedom in Iran in a demonstration put together by Jewish groups and
numerous other organizations. The demonstration Thursday outside the United Nations building came
a day after Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, addressed the U.N.
General Assembly. A coalition of Jewish groups and numerous other organizations,
including the Progressive Iranian-American Council, labor unions, and
African-American and Hispanic groups, organized the protest. Meanwhile, at a rally in Washington, about 300 people chanted “Yes
we can stop Iran” and carried signs stating "Stop Iran's Nukes Now." (JTA)
Sacha Baron Cohen to Guide the Simpsons around Israel
City Mouse Online
  Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie will finally visit Israel and meet a bitter and angry Israeli tour guide, played by Sacha Baron Cohen. In the episode, tentatively set to air in the U.S. on March 28, 2010, the Simpsons find themselves in Israel, and Homer develops Jerusalem Syndrome and becomes convinced that he is the messiah. (Ha'aretz)
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Netanyahu at the UN: All of Israel Wants Peace
 All of Israel
wants peace. If the Palestinians truly want peace, I and my government,
and the people of Israel, will make peace. But we want a genuine peace,
a defensible peace, a permanent peace. In 1947, this body voted to
establish two states for two peoples - a Jewish state and an Arab
state. The Jews accepted that resolution. The Arabs rejected it. We ask
the Palestinians to finally do what they have refused to do for 62
years: Say yes to a Jewish state. The Jewish people are not foreign
conquerors in the Land of Israel. This is the land of our forefathers. We recognize that the Palestinians also live there and want a
home of their own. We want to live side by side with them, two free
peoples living in peace, prosperity and dignity. But we don't want
another Gaza, another Iranian-backed terror base, abutting Jerusalem
and perched on the hills a few kilometers from Tel Aviv. The
Palestinians should have all the powers to govern themselves except
those handful of powers that could endanger Israel. (Prime Minister's Office)
Video: View Netanyahu's UN Speech (YouTube)
U.S. Ambassador Rice: Goldstone Report "Unbalanced, One-Sided and Unacceptable"
 America's UN Ambassador Susan Rice said in an interview Tuesday: "The mandate [of the Goldstone Report on the Gaza war] was unbalanced, one-sided and unacceptable....The weight of the report is something like 85% oriented towards very specific and harsh condemnation and conclusions related to Israel and very lightly treats without great specificity Hamas' terrorism and its own atrocities." "The fundamental problem with this particular report is it was hatched with a bias inherent in its mandate....It comes from a body whose track record and history is one of focusing unduly and excessively on one country, Israel, to the exclusion of credible sustained treatment of the world's most egregious instances of human rights abuses in places like Sudan or Zimbabwe or Burma." (Washington Post)
EU Condemns Ahmadinejad's Holocaust Declarations
 The EU condemned declarations by Iranian President Ahmadinejad including that
the Holocaust is a "myth."
"The presidency of the European Union condemns statements by President
Ahmadinejad at the Quds Day rally in Tehran where he repeated denials
of the Holocaust and of the right to exist of the state of Israel," a
statement said. "Such statements encourage anti-Semitism and hatred. We
call on the leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran to contribute
constructively to peace and security in the Middle East." Britain,
France, Germany and the U.S. have condemned Ahmadinejad's comments. (AFP)
Michael Oren: Israeli Ambassador Draws on American Roots
by Mark Landler
 For Michael B. Oren, the hardest thing about becoming Israel's
ambassador to the United States was giving up his American citizenship. Born in upstate New York, raised in suburban New Jersey and educated
at Columbia and Princeton Universities, Mr. Oren considers himself
genuinely American. But having lived most of his adult life in Israel —
serving multiple tours in the Israeli Army, once as a paratrooper
during the 1982 Lebanon war — he also considers himself genuinely
Israeli. Mr. Oren draws on
his American roots to make Israel’s case. Articulate,
telegenic and steeped in American culture, he is a smooth spokesman. (New York Times)
Leonard Cohen Concert
by Ian Deitch
 Leonard Cohen wowed an adoring audience
Thursday night, crooning his iconic ballads at his first show in Israel
in 30 years and ignoring a political storm over his appearance. The
75-year-old singer entertained fans at Ramat Gan stadium near Tel Aviv
for more than three hours. Some in the audience wore black fedora hats,
a tribute to one of Cohen’s trademarks. Cohen said all proceeds from the shows would go to Israeli-Palestinian peace organizations. He last performed in Israel in 1975. Before that, Cohen entertained Israeli troops during the Mideast war in 1973. (Associated Press)
See also Video -- Cohen Performs Halleluya (YouTube)
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