Free Republic

Inner cabinet meets after Israel reportedly pressured to respond to Washington demands. While Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu convened his six senior ministers on Wednesday night to discuss the crisis with Washington, US President Barack Obama on Wednesday said the US-Israeli relationship is not in crisis over the approval of an east Jerusalem building plan during US vice President Joe Biden's visit to Israel,. Obama told Fox News Channel that the new housing units "weren't helpful" in carving out a peace between Israelis and Palestinians, but that Washington remains a committed ally for Israel. The expansion of Ramat Shlomo was a...

Family members, particularly spouses, assuming a late politician's seat is not unusual in American politics. Among possible candidates to replace Rep. John Murtha, the Johnstown Democrat who died Monday, is his wife, Joyce. "While people have been mindful that this is a difficult time for the family, many have called to suggest Joyce as the perfect person to hold her husband's seat," Murtha spokesman Matthew Mazonkey said. Murtha represented Pennsylvania's 12th Congressional District. His term expires at the end of this year. Of the 260 women have who served in the U.S. House or Senate, 46 were widows who directly...

Washington Wire reported earlier today that White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel privately apologized last week to the Special Olympics after the Journal reported that he used the word “retarded” in a derogatory manner.But advocates for people with disabilities didn’t think that apology, coming in a phone call to Special Olympics head Tim Shriver, was enough.Now, Emanuel is taking his contrition one step farther – hosting a delegation of advocates, including two people with mental disabilities, at the White House.A statement from the Special Olympics issued late Tuesday described the session as a “face-to-face discussion with Rahm Emanuel about...