Israel moves to ease diplomatic dispute with U.S.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised President Barack Obama on Wednesday and spoke by telephone with his vice president as a vocal feud over Jewish settlements took on softer tones.

But Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas cast more doubts on prospects for indirect peace talks with Israel soon, reaffirming a demand it first halt all settlement construction. Palestinian youths threw stones at Israeli soldiers in the West Bank.

In an unusual twist in a week of heightened rhetoric in the U.S.-Israeli relationship, Netanyahu had to distance himself from comments by his brother-in-law, an ultranationalist, who called the president an anti-Semite in a radio interview.

“I have a deep appreciation for President Obama’s commitment to Israel’s security, which he has expressed many times,” Netanyahu said in a statement, disavowing himself from all comments made by Hagai Ben-Artzi, his wife’s brother.

Israel angered the Palestinians and touched off a spat with Obama’s administration after announcing plans, during a visit by Vice President Joe Biden last week, to build 1,600 homes for Jews near East Jerusalem, in West Bank territory it annexed after a 1967 war.

Israel regards all of Jerusalem, including the eastern sector captured 43 years ago, as its capital. Palestinians want East Jerusalem to be the capital of the state they hope to establish in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

An Israeli political source said Netanyahu, who had already apologized to Biden over the timing of the settlement announcement, spoke by telephone on Tuesday with the vice president. The source gave no details of their conversation.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had called Israel’s settlement announcement an insult and pressed it to take steps to show it was serious about new peace moves.

But in less confrontational tone on Tuesday, Clinton told reporters Washington has “an absolute commitment to Israel’s security” and spoke of “a close unshakeable bond.”

A State Department spokesman made clear, however, that U.S. officials expected a formal Israeli response shortly to the demands Clinton laid out to Netanyahu last week, and that this would inform the next U.S. moves on the issue.

Israeli media reports said Clinton wanted Israel to shelve the housing plan and agree to discuss core statehood issues with the Palestinians once indirect peace talks began. Netanyahu has said he would not curb building for Jews anywhere in Jerusalem.

A day after stone-throwing confrontations with Israeli troops in East Jerusalem on Tuesday, Palestinian youngsters hurled rocks at soldiers near Ramallah and in Hebron, cities in the West Bank. There were no immediate reports of injuries.

SETTLEMENT FREEZE

With Arab League support, Abbas agreed two weeks ago to the U.S.-mediated talks, effectively backing away from his demand Israel halt all settlement activity in line with a 2003 peace “road map” that also obliges the Palestinian Authority to dismantle “terrorist capabilities and infrastructure.”

Reaffirming his original demand, Abbas told reporters on Wednesday: “We demand the fulfillment of commitments before going to indirect negotiations.”

U.S. Middle East peace envoy George Mitchell on Tuesday put off plans to return to the region. The State Department said he would not begin another mission until at least after Middle East peace mediators met in Moscow on Thursday and Friday.

The diplomatic flareup over the past week has raised concern in Israel that security cooperation with the United States over a future nuclear-armed Iran could be jeopardized.

The White House has been criticized by U.S. lawmakers and pro-Israel advocacy groups for its harsh stance toward Israel, which analysts said was likely one reason for its changed tone.

Netanyahu is scheduled to address AIPAC, a pro-Israel lobby group, in Washington on Monday. During his visit, he is likely to meet members of Congress, where support for Israel is strong.

No plans have been announced for talks with Obama administration officials. Obama himself is expected to be traveling overseas during Netanyahu’s visit.

China backs efforts for independent Palestinian state

RIYADH (AFP) – China on Wednesday endorsed efforts to create an independent Palestinian state as Saudi Arabia hardened its accusations that Israel is preventing a settlement of the Middle East conflict .

China’s Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Yang Jiechi speaks during a joint press conference with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saudi al-Faisal in Riyadh. China on Wednesday endorsed efforts to create an independent Palestinian state as Saudi Arabia hardened its accusations that Israel is preventing a settlement of the Middle East conflict.

“China will continue its support for the Palestinian effort to establish an independent state,” Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said on a visit to Riyadh .

Yang said at a news conference with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal that China supports the principles of a two-state solution under the Saudi-driven Arab Peace Initiative , which calls for an independent Palestinian state based on 1967 borders and with Jerusalem as its capital.

Saud, meanwhile, stepped up the rhetoric over Israel’s refusal to freeze the construction of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank and begin talks with the Palestinians.

“This is the longest conflict in modern times,” Saud said.

“The reason why this conflict is long is the refusal by Israel of all the attempts to end this conflict. Arab countries have done their job with the Arab Peace Initiative, which gives Israel security, and gives the Arab countries the restoration of their lands.

“But peace should be established by two sides, not just one side. If one side does not want peace, peace will not be achieved,” he said.

The comments came as both the US and Saudis have increased efforts to push the Palestinians and Israelis into final-status peace talks that would result in an independent Palestinian state.

Amid a sharp increase in regional diplomacy, White House National Security Adviser James Jones met Saudi King Abdullah late Tuesday on the first stop of a regional tour that will take him to Israel and the Palestinian territories .

US Middle East special envoy George Mitchell is also expected to visit soon.

The two sides remained at odds over the key issue of Israeli settlements .

The Palestinians and their Arab backers — with Saudi Arabia one of the most important — insist that peace talks cannot resume until Israel freezes the construction of Jewish settlements in the West bank and East Jerusalem.

Israel and the United States say talks should proceed with no preconditions.

Catholic bishops criticize Israel on Palestinians

By BEN HUBBARD, Associated Press Writer Ben Hubbard

JERUSALEM – A high-level delegation of Roman Catholic bishops criticized Israeli polices in Arab sectors of Jerusalem on Thursday and called for more contacts between ordinary Israelis and Palestinians.

Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Fouad Twal talks to a reporter after a press conference concerning the release of the final communique of the 10th Holy Land Coordination in Jerusalem’s Old City, Thursday, Jan. 14, 2010. A high-level delegation of North American and European Catholic bishops has criticized Israeli polices in east Jerusalem and called for greater contact between ordinary Israelis and Palestinians. Concluding their annual Holy Land visit, the group issued a statement saying that violence, insecurity, home demolitions, the route of Israel’s West Bank separation barrier and other policies ‘threaten both a two-state solution and the Christian presence.’ (AP Photo/ Tara Todras-Whitehill)

The group of eight bishops from North America and Europe said violence, insecurity, the route of Israel’s West Bank separation barrier, home demolitions and other policies threaten peace prospects and endanger the dwindling Christian presence in the Holy Land.

The issue of Jerusalem – home to holy sites for Jews, Christians and Muslims – remains the most flammable in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Palestinians claim the city’s eastern sector as the capital of their future state. Israel, which captured east Jerusalem from Jordan in the 1967 Mideast war, insists the city will never be divided.

In a statement issued at the end of their annual visit, the bishops called for the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel.

“For us, this is not merely about politics; it is an issue of basic human rights,” the statement said.

During their visit, the bishops visited Christian institutions in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, talked with Palestinians about their lives and listened to presentations from Israeli and Palestinian experts. It was unclear if they met with ordinary Jewish Israelis.

Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev disputed the group’s criticisms of Israel’s east Jerusalem policies.

“Only since reuniting Jerusalem in 1967 have the holy places of all faiths been protected under law and freedom of religion has prevailed,” he said.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, the bishops spoke of watching Palestinian children cross Israeli checkpoints to return from school and the humiliation Palestinians say they feel at such places. Israel says the crossings are necessary to prevent attacks.

Bishop Gerald Kicanas, vice president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, said the human rights situation for Palestinians in the Holy Land has gotten worse during the 20 years that he has been visiting the region.

Kicanas, also the bishop of Tucson, Arizona, said Israeli and Palestinian youth lack opportunities to meet each other.

“Unless they find a way to engage one another, to meet one another as ordinary human beings, the situation will remain grave,” he said.