And she ate it up.
"Mideast peace trip low-key for Hillary Clinton" by Bradley Klapper | Associated Press, July 17, 2012
JERUSALEM — Hillary Rodham Clinton made perhaps her final visit to the region as secretary of state.
What do they know that you do not?
Three years after President Obama declared the plight of the Palestinians ‘‘intolerable,’’ his administration no longer sees the failing Arab-Israeli peace efforts with the same immediacy. US interests are focused now on Iran and Syria....
After meeting with top Israeli officials Monday, Clinton said the United States will use its power to keep Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons....
The veiled threat came as the United States and Israel debate how best to deal with Iran....
Throughout her day of meetings with Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and the country’s president, foreign minister, and defense minister, Clinton also spoke about the need to halt violence in Syria and underscored America’s support for Israel....
Clinton also met Salam Fayyad, the Palestinian prime minister, but she couldn’t report any progress toward an accord that might secure an independent Palestine and an Israel at peace with its neighbors.
In a departure from the usual pattern for top US diplomats, Clinton did not travel to the Palestinian Authority’s West Bank headquarters in Ramallah. The Palestinians said a visit was unnecessary because Clinton had met with the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, just a few days earlier in Paris.
Israel has defied Obama’s call to halt settlement construction in occupied lands, and the Palestinian leadership in the West Bank has refused to resume negotiations....
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"Israel OK’s funding for homes in West Bank; Palestinians are enraged by move" by Amy Teibel | Associated Press, July 16, 2012
JERUSALEM — The Israeli government has quietly agreed to grant subsidies to build more than 500 new homes in the West Bank, backing away from a promise earlier this year to deny these incentives to the settlements.
Related: Zionists Continue Rampage in Palestine
Moving on an Israeli Post
Repairing Israel's Image
They don't care.
The planned construction, at a time when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to shore up support among settlers, has enraged the Palestinians and could cloud a visit that started Sunday by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton as she tries to reenergize moribund Middle East peace efforts.
Related: Usraeli Food Fight
Did you fall for it, readers?
The housing units are benefiting from the government’s designation of the settlements as ‘‘national priority’’ areas — a status normally reserved for low-income cities and towns where the government wants to encourage development and lure people to live.
In January, the Israeli Cabinet identified more than 550 communities, including 70 West Bank settlements, as national priority areas. The list drew immediate protests from the Palestinians, who view the West Bank as the core of a future state. The United States demanded an explanation of the settlements’ inclusion.
Facing international pressure, Israeli leaders quietly held a second vote in a meeting conducted by telephone to exclude the settlements from the measure. Shortly after, Netanyahu told a news conference with visiting UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon that the initial Cabinet decision was a mistake.
At the time, government spokesman Mark Regev insisted that the new vote meant that the subsidy program ‘‘does not apply to communities in the West Bank.’’ Still, the Cabinet left a loophole, saying settlements could receive benefits ‘‘contingent on a decision by political leaders.’’
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Asked about the apparent government flip-flop, Regev said, ‘‘There are no special incentives whatsoever to encourage people to live in the West Bank.’’
They must be born liars.
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"Israel seeks to delay outpost removal" Associated Press, July 23, 2012
JERUSALEM — Israel’s government on Sunday asked the country’s Supreme Court to delay the evacuation of an unauthorized West Bank settlement outpost by a month, its latest attempt to put off a potential clash with extremist settlers.
No court decision was announced. Yes, sometimes terrorism does work.
The Migron outpost, about 10 miles north of Jerusalem, was built on privately owned Palestinian land, a practice the court outlawed decades ago. Some Migron settlers have petitioned the court to remain in their homes....
The Israeli court has ordered the Migron outpost dismantled by Aug. 1, but the state asked to delay the operation until Aug. 30, citing the concerns of senior military commander Major General Nitzan Alon that carrying out the eviction during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan could set off clashes between settlers and Palestinians....
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to respect the court decision, but his government is also wary of creating a conflict with the settler community.
That's because they are the government.
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