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The Palestinian Authority on Sunday sent a warning to Israel, over what it calls its attempts to harm the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount. Speaking during a meeting of the PLO's Executive Committee, PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas that it is impossible to hold back in the wake of what he called the attacks by Israel on the Al-Aqsa Mosque and PA Arabs in Judea and Samaria, in particular by local Jewish residents. "We cannot remain silent over such actions, nor can we accept their recurrence," Abbas said. "If Israel is dreaming about establishing facts on the ground through its...

ROME (AP) — Secretary of State John Kerry said Wednesday he would depart in two weeks on another trip to the Middle East to push peace between Israel and the Palestinians. Speaking to reporters alongside Israeli peace negotiator Tzipi Livni, Kerry said he'd depart on his fourth trip to the Jewish state as America's top diplomat around May 21 or 22. He will meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. "We are working through threshold questions," Kerry said, ahead of his private talks with Livni in Rome. "We're doing it with a seriousness of purpose that...

The upcoming visit of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to China is expected to further promote mutual political trust and cooperation in the fields of economy, trade and science. Netanyahu is due to leave for China Sunday night for a five-day official visit, the first of its kind since 2007 when then Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert visited China. Chinese Ambassador to Israel Gao Yanping told Xinhua in an interview that China and Israel have maintained close high-level contact in recent years, creating a good atmosphere for the growth of bilateral ties. Recent years have also witnessed increasingly closer exchanges...

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will leave this afternoon for a five-day trip to China, where he will try to bring Israel’s perspectives on a slew of regional issues such as Iran, Syria and Egypt to the country’s new leadership. Netanyahu will be meeting with the new Chinese president, Xi Jinping, as well as with the country’s new prime minister, Li Keqiang, in an effort to shape their impressions of the Middle East as they begin what is expected to be a decade of rule. While two previous attempts to arrange a visit by Netanyahu failed to materialize, the trip is...

In a further indication of stirrings in the long-stagnant Israeli-Palestinian diplomatic process, Justice Minister Tzipi Livni met Thursday in Washington with US Secretary of State John Kerry, and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said for the second time in a week that he supports a public referendum on any agreement with the Palestinians. Yitzhak Molcho, Netanyahu’s envoy on the Palestinian issue, accompanied Livni to her meeting with Kerry, where they discussed the peace process as well as regional developments, particularly Syria. The meeting came three days after an Arab League delegation met with Kerry and US Vice President Joe Biden. Kerry...

- FrontPage Magazine - http://frontpagemag.com - A Death Cult’s Endgame UnveiledPosted By Ari Lieberman On May 3, 2013 @ 12:05 am In Daily Mailer,FrontPage | 2 Comments In November 2009 Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced a 10-month halt to settlement construction in Judea & Samaria (West Bank) in a futile bid to jumpstart the so-called “peace process.” Instead of embracing Netanyahu’s bold peace initiative, the Palestinian Authority’s Holocaust-denying strongman, Mahmoud Abbas, waited nine months before responding to the Israeli gesture, ensuring that there would be virtually no time for substantive progress. Abbas, who had made the settlement issue the cornerstone...

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas again insisted at a two-day “Freedom and Dignity” conference in Ramallah last week that Palestinians who murder Israeli Jews cannot be punished. The conference was to mark the 11th anniversary of Israel’s arrest of Marwan Barghouti, who, according to Israel Today, is a senior member of Abbas‘ Fatah party who was convicted of directing “numerous terrorist attacks against Israelis.” Israel Today reports that polls show the majority of Palestinians want Mr. Barghouti for president if he is ever released. Mr. Abbas declared that many of the Palestinians who were jailed after killing Jewish men, women and...

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Saturday he would begin talks with rival factions, including Islamist Hamas, to form a unity government, a crucial step towards healing years of damaging internal divisions. … The need to form a new administration was prompted by the resignation earlier this month of Prime Minister Salam Fayyad because of a rift between him and Abbas, and it has created an opportunity for Abbas to forge a unity government. …

NOTE The following text is a quote: www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/jl1908.aspx Treasury Identifies Kassem Rmeiti & Co. for Exchange and Halawi Exchange Co. as Financial Institutions of “Primary Money Laundering Concern” 4/23/2013 In First Use of Section 311 Against a Non-Bank Financial Institution, Treasury Acts to Protect the U.S. Financial System from Foreign Exchange Houses Tied to Global Narcotics and Money Laundering Networks and Hizballah WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of the Treasury today named two Lebanese exchange houses, Kassem Rmeiti & Co. For Exchange (Rmeiti Exchange) and Halawi Exchange Co. (Halawi Exchange), as foreign financial institutions of primary money laundering concern under...

WASHINGTON, April 23 (UPI) -- U.S. President Barack Obama Tuesday thanked the emir of Qatar for the "excellent relationship" between the two countries with respect to security and trade. "Qatar has been a center of innovation," Obama said after their bilateral meeting in the Oval Office. "We've seen enormous progress within the country on everything ranging from education to health care. And I think His Highness has shown extraordinary leadership over the last many years in helping to guide this country. "Obviously, Qatar is also an important country in the region, and has an influence that extends beyond its relatively...

Palestinian Authority (PA) president Mahmud Abbas may fire Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, a Fatah member said, as the party criticized the premier's government as being "improvised and confused." Abbas "is leaning towards dismissing Fayyad from the head of the government and forming a new one," a member of Fatah's Revolutionary Council told AFP late on Friday, speaking on condition of anonymity. "I am angrier than all of you at the government... but I don't want to say more than that now. Just wait for three days," he quoted Abbas as saying at a meeting of the council in Ramallah. He...

JERUSALEM - The Obama administration is exploring whether a long-abandoned initiative proposed by Saudi Arabia 11 years ago could become the basis for a regional peace agreement between Israel and its neighbors, according to Israeli and Palestinian officials. With U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry due to arrive in the region over the weekend, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has been conferring with other Arab leaders on the viability of the plan, which calls for a normalization of relations between Israel and all the Arab states in exchange for the establishment of a sovereign Palestinian state. Israeli and Palestinian officials confirmed...

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas said on Wednesday that the freeing of terrorists serving time in Israeli prisons was a “priority” for his leadership. “The Palestinian leadership gives priority to the prisoners issue and ending their suffering,” Abbas said in a speech to a meeting of his Fatah party in Ramallah, according to AFP. … The speech came after thousands of PA Arabs rioted over the death the death of an elderly terrorist who was serving time in an Israeli jail. …

Just days after the Obama administration announced it was unblocking almost $500 million in aid to the Palestinian Authority, P.A. chairman Mahmoud Abbas told an Arab League summit this week he was pushing ahead with efforts to upgrade the P.A.’s status—the reason Congress wanted the money held up in the first place. Abbas complained that the Palestinian people were being collectively punished for opting to seek statehood at the U.N. Abbas also used his speech at the summit in Doha, Qatar to reprise his accusations that Israel is systemically racing to “judaize” Jerusalem, and repeated the inflammatory claim that it...

Israel and Turkey's recent rapprochement is a vital factor in developing peace and stability in the Middle East, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Saturday, AFP reported. "The reconciliation between Israel and Turkey is a very important development that will help advance the cause of peace and stability in the region," Kerry said in a statement Saturday from the Jordanian capital Amman. "Prime Minister Netanyahu and Prime Minister Erdogan deserve great credit for showing the leadership necessary to make this possible," he added, according to AFP. "We look forward to an expeditious implementation of the agreement and the...

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry held talks with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Saturday evening, after earlier discussing ways to push a new peace plan with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, U.S. and Israeli sources said. A radio report said Netanyahu and Kerry had a first round of private talks and were then joined by Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, Netanyahu's personal envoy Yitzhak Molcho and his national security adviser Yaakov Amidror. Channel 10 News reported that Kerry is planning on offering Israel and the PA an outline which would see Israel releasing terrorists from its prisons and transferring areas...

Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas welcomed President Barack Obama’s speech in Jerusalem on Thursday, while Hamas condemned Obama for “adopting Israel’s position”. "President Abbas welcomed President Obama's speech in Jerusalem saying that achieving peace and the option of two states on the 1967 borders are the way to bring security for the Israeli and Palestinian peoples," the PA’s peace negotiator Saeb Erekat told AFP. Gaza’s Hamas terrorist leaders, meanwhile, criticized Obama and condemned Abbas’s Palestinian Authority for cooperating with the U.S. government. Referring to comments made by Obama during a joint press conference with Abbas in Ramallah, Hamas spokesman Sami...

The symbolism surrounding Big Guy’s Mideast trip is starting to pile up. First the Beast is fed the wrong petro: The “Beast” – clean butt not well fed Hauled away like a common criminal in a no parking zone This incident recalled an equally embarrassing  incident back in 2011 when it bottomed out with Lady M onboard in Ireland) They don’t call her old lead bottom for nothing – the “Beast” I mean...(the car) (snip) And you know what else? I’m sure it’s just a coincidence butt it looks like BO’s wearing the same unruly blue tie as he did...

Giant pic of man who celebrated the murder of Jewish children....and Obama happily stands there. Imagine if Bush spoke where a big photo of Hitler was hanging.

Officials in Jerusalem believe that U.S. President Barack Obama, who has announced he will visit Israel in mid-March, will arrive with a new peace plan and the demand for a breakthrough in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Obama's itinerary, which includes stops in Ramallah and Amman, suggests that his administration may be preparing a new peace bid. Word of the coming trip followed calls by incoming U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday stressing the U.S. commitment to peacemaking. President Obama's associates have said in recent days that he plans to play a...

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, who is always touted by the West as a peace partner for Israel, met on Wednesday with the man that has constantly called for Israel’s destruction. Abbas met with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on the sidelines of the Islamic summit held in Cairo, the PA-based WAFA news agency reported. According to the report, the two discussed the political process, the Palestinian Authority’s financial crisis and the reconciliation efforts between Abbas’s Fatah movement and rival Hamas. The meeting was attended by PLO Executive Committee Member Saeb Erekat, the PA’s Foreign Affairs Minister Riyad Al-Malki and Abbas’s...

Newly-installed U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry isn't wasting any time in getting started on his new job. After two full days in office, Kerry spoke to officials in Mexico, Canada, Israel, Turkey, and the Palestinian Authority (PA), his office said Sunday. On Sunday, Kerry called PA chief Mahmoud Abbas. According to an Abbas spokesperson, Kerry told the PA chief that he expected to meet him in the near future in order to discuss restarting negotiations with Israel. Kerry told Abbas that President Barack H. Obama supported such talks, and that he hoped both sides would agree to participate. In...

(Reuters) - Israel will give Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's administration around $100 million (63 million pounds) in tax revenues that had been withheld in retaliation for his statehood bid in the United Nations, Israeli officials said on Wednesday. The sum is roughly a third of the funds Israel is meant to have transferred to the Palestinian Authority (PA) since November under interim peace accords, but has instead kept. ... PA tax authority official Ahmed al-Helou told Reuters that Israel spent the October levies to help pay off $200 million it says the Palestinians owe the Israel Electric Corporation. Israel said...

Five weeks after the Obama administration asserted that a United Nations vote on upgrading the Palestinian entity’s status “does not establish that Palestine is a state,” Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday ordered that all references to the Palestinian Authority be changed to the “State of Palestine.” From passports to postage stamps, diplomatic mission titles to official stationery, the name of a state that does not legally exist will replace that of the self-rule administration established under the Oslo Accords, brokered by the Clinton administration in the early 1990s. Abbas issued the decree instructing the change several days after saying during an...

Chairman Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority signed orders, Thursday, directing all PA institutions to stop using the term "Palestinian National Authority" on official documents and to replace the term with "the state of Palestine". The change went into effect immediately, and was applied to official documents, seals and medals. .....

The Palestinian leadership’s falsification of history by presenting Jesus as an ancient Palestinian increased in regularity as Christmas approached this year. In the last month alone, the PA media has transmitted six additional PA misrepresentations of Jesus as a Palestinian, including: The Governor of Ramallah: “We all have the right to be proud that Jesus is a Palestinian” PA historian: “In the final analysis, Jesus the Messiah is a Palestinian” The PA Mufti: “Jesus is a Palestinian par excellence”

The Fatah party, headed by Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, has made official what it has been saying more quietly and has adopted a new logo showing all of Israel as Palestine. The logo marks the 48th anniversary of the founding of Fatah by Yasser Arafat and includes a map with the PA flag and a map of Israel that appears to be a depiction of the black and white checkered kefiyah, a symbol of the violent intifada, and the slogan “the state and victory." PMW revealed that the official PA daily published the new official logo. For the past...

Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi on Saturday called on US President Barack Obama to be "proactive" in ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in his forthcoming term, according to AFP. "We hope that the new American administration adopts a policy of conflict resolution rather than conflict management," Arabi said during a visit with Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohammed Kamel Amr to the Ramallah headquarters of Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmud Abbas. Arabi said that in the four-hour meeting with Abbas they discussed the Arab League's promise to provide an economic "safety net" of $100 million a month to alleviate the effect of Israeli...

A British minister on Thursday harshly condemned Israel for its plans to expand construction in East Jerusalem and for conferring university status on a college in the West Bank city of Ariel, employing damning language rarely used by government officials. While international outcries following Israeli announcements of construction beyond the Green Line are a common occurrence, UK Minister for the Middle East Alistair Burt took the unusual step of mentioning the Geneva Conventions, likely implying that settlement expansion is considered a war crime under international law. snip The minister further said that the United Kingdom appreciates the Palestinian leadership’s “measured...

The Gaza branch of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah party said on Friday it will mark its anniversary in the Hamas-ruled enclave after an accord between the two factions, AFP reported. snip During Israel’s recent Operation Pillar of Defense in Gaza, the two factions appeared to be getting closer, announcing they have decided to end infighting. The Palestinian Authority later announced it will release Hamas-affiliated detainees as a goodwill gesture to boost reconciliation efforts. Abbas said earlier this month it was time to seal a reconciliation with Hamas.

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas warned that he would disband his Palestinian Authority if there was no Israeli movement toward renewing peace talks after Israel's elections on January 22. Abbas, in an interview with the Israeli daily Haaretz, said that if such a situation arose he would hand full responsibility for the occupied West Bank to the Israeli government. "If there is no progress even after the election I will take the phone and call (Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu," Abbas said. "I'll tell him... Sit in the chair here instead of me, take the keys, and you will be responsible for...

Yisrael Beiteinu head Avigdor Lieberman, until recently the Foreign Minister, reacted with joy Friday as Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas threatened to quit if negotiations do not resume. Abbas has refused to negotiate in absence of several Israeli concessions, including a complete freeze on construction east of the 1949 armistice line. According to Lieberman, Israel "can't wait" for Abbas to follow through on his threat. "We congratulate Abu Mazen [Abbas] for reaching the correct conclusion, that only his leave from the PA leadership will allow the diplomatic process to resume," Lieberman said. "We anxiously await the official announcement from the...

The so-called problem of the Palestinian Authority-Israel struggle actually disguises the real problem of Islamic fundamentalism, Israeli Ambassador to Norway Naim Araidi told the local ABC news outlet. He said that Muslim extremists want to replace modern life in Europe with Islamic Shari'a law. As for PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, “He does not even represent his wife," according to the ambassador. Araidi, who earned undergraduate and Msters degrees at Hebrew University and received his Doctorate at Bar-Ilan University, grew up in a Druze village near Haifa. The Druze do not consider themselves Arabs, and their religion is considered “secret” that...

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday denounced Israel's plans to build homes in the area known as E1. AFP reported that Abbas said the plan was "a red line that cannot be tolerated" and warned he would take all the legal means available to prevent such a "dangerous" decision. "We went to all international parties to prevent this settlement decision, and if it goes ahead we will resort to all legitimate and legal methods," he warned, according to the report. E1 refers to an area that connects Jerusalem and Maaleh Adumim. It was designated nearly 20 years ago for...

PA president vows to pursue efforts to end the split between Gaza, West Bank, dedicates UN "victory" to late PA president Arafat. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas Sunday vowed to pursue efforts to end the split between the West Bank and Gaza and thanked Hamas and all Palestinian groups for supporting his statehood bid at the UN. Abbas, who was speaking to thousands of supporters in Ramallah during a rally organized by the PA to celebrate the UN General Assembly's vote in favor of upgrading the status of the Palestinians to non-member observer state, said he would focus his efforts...

PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas Sunday promised someday the PA flag would fly over “Jerusalem, eternal capital of the state of Palestine.” Thousands of people greeted Abbas rapturously upon his return from the United Nations, where the General Assembly granted the PLO, representing the PA, upgraded status as a nonmember observer state. "Raise your heads high, because you are Palestinians!” Abbas told the joyous crowd, waving PA flags in the PA capital of Ramallah, located in Samaria. "You have proof that you are stronger than the occupation, because you are Palestinians... stronger than the settlements, because you are Palestinians. "We were...

Editor's Note: This column was coauthored by Bob Morrison. Pete Wehner is a real gentleman. His reproofs are generally not caustic and are almost always intended to have his opponents listen to what Lincoln called “the better angels of our nature.” Thus, when he recently criticized Kirsten Powers, he provided a most useful sketch of the history of Arab-Israeli conflicts in recent times, at least since 1967. Wehner’s column should be required reading for anyone taking part in Mideast policy discussions. In the main, we agree with his assessment of this good woman’s errors. But in gently rebuking Kirsten Powers,...

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas claimed Saturday the entity's renewed bid for United Nations membership is the “last chance” for Arab peace with Israel. The PA is hoping to create an independent, sovereign state in Judea, Samaria, Gaza and parts of Jerusalem that were restored to the Jewish capital in the 1967 Six-Day War. Previous efforts to evade the necessity of final status talks with Israel through application for membership in the United Nations have been stymied by Western nation, led by the United States. Speaking with students at his headquarters in the PA capital of Ramallah, Abbas said, “The...

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas threw cold water on President Barack Obama’s election victory, answering the president with a direct “no” after Obama told him his administration is opposed to the PA’s unilateral move for recognition by the United Nations General Assembly. Abbas’ blunt “no” underscored the new Middle East reality, where the PA chief feels he can snub the United States and bank on international opposition to the State of Israel’s position for defensible borders, said analysts. "There was a long telephone conversation between president Mahmud Abbas and Barack Obama," the Palestinian leader's spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina told AFP....

In response to statements by Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas that he would not demand the “right of return” for PA Arabs to the homes that their grandparents and great-grandparents abandoned in the State of Israel – statements Abbas later reneged on – Hamas has issued its own document on the matter. Even if the PA as a matter of policy were to agree not to demand that nearly all the Jews of Israel be thrown out of their homes to accommodate the descendants of “refugees,” Hamas said it wold never agree to such a plan – and any concessions...

President Shimon Peres on Saturday saluted as "courageous" remarks by Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas in which he appears to relinquish the demand for a "right to return" of PA Arabs to their former homes in what is now Israel. "Abu Mazen's courageous words prove that Israel has a real partner for peace," Peres said in a statement, referring to Abbas by his "kunya" name. .....

Ahead of his latest unilateral statehood bid at the United Nations, Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas is claiming that he will never allow a third intifada. In an interview with Israel’s Channel 2 News, Abbas said, “There will be no intifada, and we will not, under any circumstances, return to using weapons or violence.” "As long as I'm sitting here, in this position, I will not allow an intifada. We will act only through diplomatic and peaceful means,” he said in the interview which was held Thursday in his Ramallah headquarters. "I'm ready to return to negotiations," said Abbas, repeating...

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas met Tuesday in Ramallah with representatives of EU countries in the Palestinian Authority and discussed with them the regional situation following the Arab spring and the PA’s position towards the peace process with Israel. Abbas told the European representatives that the PA is ready to resume negotiations with Israel on the basis of the EU’s official positions. He noted that the PA will make use of these EU positions when it submits its recognition to the United Nations General Assembly. He also stressed that the PA’s unilateral statehood bid to the UN does not mean...

The Palestinian Authority (PA) said on Sunday it was ending restrictions limiting the number of traders who can import Israeli goods into the territory, in a bid to reduce spiraling prices. "The system of exclusive agencies and exclusive distributors for goods and products manufactured in Israel or foreign goods imported through an Israeli agent is cancelled," economy minister Jawad Naji told a news conference. "We will allow all interested traders to buy directly from the Israeli market without an intermediary, in compliance with the laws and mechanisms of the Palestinian Authority," he said in Ramallah. The decision does not include...

Palestinian Authority head, Mahmoud Abbas, proposed cancelling the Oslo Accords with Israel at a weekend meeting of the PA leadership, a senior member of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) told AFP on Tuesday. PLO Executive Committee member Wassel Abu Yusef said Abbas raised the idea of "cancelling the Oslo agreement as well as the associated economic and security arrangements," at the meeting on Saturday and Sunday. Abu Yusef said that "members of the Palestinian leadership had mixed opinions on the issue, and it was decided to postpone any decision until their next meeting," due to be held after Abbas's return...

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has named a date for the PA’s next statehood bid. Abbas said Saturday that he will ask the UN General Assembly to recognize a “state of Palestine” on September 27. The date is just over one year after Abbas’ first statehood bid, in which the PA sought recognition of statehood from the Security Council. It will come one day after Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement. His appeal to the General Assembly is considered far more likely to yield success. The Security Council bid was met by a lack of support from the United...

On Thursday morning, hundreds of PA Arabs blocked roads and burned tires in the Ramallah area, protesting the high price of products in the PA. The Thursday protest was the latest in a series of demonstations in PA controlled area over high prices. On Wednesday, hundreds of residents of Shechem gathered in one of the town's main squares. demanding the removal of Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and PA chief Mahmous Abbas. ...Fayyad and Abbas did not represent them, and that they demanded a new government. Joining them were Hamas members of the PA parliament. Protests have been taking...

- FrontPage Magazine - http://frontpagemag.com - The Oslo Accords Are Dead — And the Palestinians Killed ThemPosted By Yonatan Silverman On August 14, 2012 @ 12:05 am In Daily Mailer,FrontPage | No Comments On August 13th the Jerusalem Post reported the release of a report on Palestinian incitement, authored by Strategic Affairs Ministry director-general Yossi Kuperwasser. Among other things Kuperwasser wrote: The bottom line is that Palestinian incitement is “going on all the time,” adding that the phenomenon is “worrying and disturbing.” He said that at an institutional level the Palestinian Authority was continuously driving three messages home: that the...

Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Mininster Salam Fayyad of the Palestinian Authority (PA) feel anger and dissatisfaction at the new Egyptian administration over its approach to the PA, especially its representation, according to PA sources cited, Monday, by the London-based Ash-Sharq Il-Awsat daily. The sources say Abu-Mazen and Fayyad are not pleased that the government of President Mohammed Morsi "has ties with Hamas as if it is the representative of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, while ignoring the role of the Palestinian Authority." The sources added that "Egypt is negotiating with the Hamas government

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas responded on Sunday to Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman’s letter to the International Quartet, in which he called for Abbas to be replaced. Lieberman “doesn’t deserve an answer”, Abbas told an Army Radio reporter on the sidelines of a meeting with members of the Meretz party in Ramallah. He then added, “When he talks about the use of diplomatic terror he does not deserve anything. Everyone knows that we want peace between the two states, and for them to live and stability and security.” Lieberman wrote in his letter to the European Union’s foreign policy chief...