• Netanyahu says nuclear talks a chance for Iran to 'buy time' to build the bomb

    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu voices concern over the progress of Iran's nuclear program while addressing the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

    By Dan Williams, Reuters

    JERUSALEM — Renewed international efforts to negotiate curbs on Iran's disputed nuclear program have backfired by giving it more time to work on building a bomb, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday.

    His remarks on the inconclusive February 26-27 meeting between Iran and six world powers signaled impatience by Israel, which has threatened to launch preemptive war on its arch-foe, possibly in the coming months, if it deems diplomacy a dead end.



    Senior U.S. diplomat Wendy Sherman flew in to brief Israel about the Kazakh-hosted talks, in which Tehran, which denies seeking nuclear arms, was offered modest relief from sanctions in return for halting mid-level uranium enrichment.

    There was no breakthrough. The sides will reconvene in Almaty on April 5-6 after holding technical talks in Istanbul.

    "My impression from these talks is that the only thing that is gained from them is a buying of time, and through this time-buying Iran intends to continue enriching nuclear material for an atomic bomb and is indeed getting closer to this goal," Netanyahu told his Cabinet in remarks aired by Israeli media.

    Extrapolating from U.N. reports on Iran's enrichment of uranium to 20 percent fissile purity, a short technical step from weapons-grade, Netanyahu has set a mid-2013 "red line" for denying the Islamic republic the fuel needed for a first bomb.

    Iranian media reported on Sunday the country was building around 3,000 new advanced enrichment centrifuges, a development that could accelerate the nuclear project.

    The prospect of unilateral Israeli strikes, and the likely wide-ranging reprisals by Iran and its regional allies, worries
    Washington, which wants to pursue diplomacy as it winds down costly military commitments abroad.

    Obama visit looms
    In an attempt to make their proposals more palatable to Tehran, the United States and five other world powers appeared to have softened previous demands in Almaty - for example regarding their requirement that the Iranians ship out their stockpile of the higher-grade uranium.

    A senior Israeli official said that while the Netanyahu government had hoped for a tougher line by the so-called P5+1, it was resigned to awaiting the results of this round of talks.

    "At the end of the day, what matters is that the Iranians end their enrichment, whether it's through shutting down their facilities or
    through more nuanced technical safeguards," the official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters.

    The official would not comment on how or if the latest diplomacy had affected the readiness of Israel, which is widely assumed to have the region's only nuclear arsenal, to go to war.

    Iran may have warded off that threat by turning some of its 20 percent-pure uranium into fuel rods for a research reactor.

    The international standoff and shifting timelines are expected to dominate U.S. President Barack Obama's trip to Israel later this
    month. The Israelis urge a tougher posture on Iran from their ally, which has a hefty military presence in the Gulf and says it is poised to use force as a last resort.

    Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak, in a speech in Washington to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, echoed Netanyahu in voicing doubt that diplomacy would stop Iran's nuclear ambitions.

    "Therefore, all options must remain on the table," he told the pro-Israel lobby group. "We expect all those who say it to mean it. We
    mean it."

    Israel's dovish president, Shimon Peres, sounded more upbeat after meeting Sherman last Thursday. Peres said he had "total faith in the Obama administration, in its commitment and its actions in preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons".

    Obama's Israel visit has been overshadowed by local politics too, given the rightist Netanyahu's failure so far to build a new coalition
    government after he narrowly won a January 22 ballot.

    Appealing to potential party allies to rally to him in the name of national security, Netanyahu told his cabinet: "To my regret this is
    not happening, and in the coming days I will continue my efforts to unify and galvanize forces ahead of the major national and
    international challenges that we face."

    Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.

  • What about Palestinians? Israeli coalition may be hard-pressed to answer

    Ronen Zvulun / Reuters

    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signed his first coalition partner in centrist Tzipi Livni, a move that could get a nod of approval from peace activists and U.S. President Barack Obama. But how cohesive any message of peace will be depends largely on the makeup of the rest of the coalition.

    By Martin Fletcher, Correspondent, NBC News

    News analysis

    TEL AVIV -- In the Middle Eastern bazaar, the first sale of the day is prized beyond any other. It is called the “siftach,” and to clinch the deal the seller gives a discount to the buyer, to launch a good day’s business.

    In the case of the agreement announced Wednesday between Likud Beitenu leader Benjamin Netanyahu and Tzipi Livni, leader of  “Hatnua” (Movement) to join a coalition government, Netanyahu was desperate to get one of the several political parties he is negotiating with to be the first to reach agreement.

    So to entice Livni to sign, he sweetened his offer to include what Livni dearly wanted: the role of chief peace negotiator with the Palestinians, in addition to the guarantee of the post of justice minister for her and the post of minister of the environment for another member of her party.

    Her brief in a new Netanyahu government, then, would be to launch a new peace process with the Palestinians, according to the published agreement, “with the aim of reaching a settlement with them that will put an end to the conflict.”

    The significance of this is that the responsibility passes from the foreign minister, who loudly proclaimed that he did not believe in peace with the Palestinians, to Livni, who does.

    Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is still in charge, but he may no longer be Israel's most consequential politician. The Daily Rundown's Chuck Todd takes a "deep dive" into the new face of Israeli politics, Yair Lapid.

    In addition to being the first step toward forming Netanyahu’s third government, it allows him to send a signal to U.S. President Barack Obama, expected in Israel on his first state visit next month, that he is serious about moving toward peace and that Obama should support him; Netanyahu’s relationship with Obama is famously fraught.

    What this means in practice, however, is far from clear. It depends on who else joins Netanyahu and Livni in building a coalition government. Pundits expect Netanyahu to focus his attention next on the Labor party, as well as a couple of the religious Jewish parties, and only then to go for broke -- to offer a role to the two young newcomers, one on the left and one on the right, who have surprisingly found common cause.

    The question: Can Netanyau pull off a brilliant ploy and form a government without the second- and third-largest parties, Yair Lapid’s ‘Yesh Atid’ (There is a Future) and Naftali Bennett’s Bait Hayehudi (Jewish Home)?

    Or is it so brilliant? When the voters speak clearly and give the second- and third-largest number of votes to two new parties with new leaders and a large majority of new members of parliament, shouldn’t this call for change be reflected in any new government?

    The problem is, and this brings us back to Livni’s role as peace negotiator, Bennett and Lapid, who agree on many social and economic issues, could not be further apart on the central question: What about the Palestinians? Bennett is absolutely clear: No Palestinian state. Lapid is with Livni.

    So is there a real change in the Israeli government’s position vis a vis peace talks? As always, Netanyahu is hard to read. Does he really want Livni to take Israel down the road to compromise and peace? Or does he just want to form a new government so badly that he will offer any enticement to make it happen?

    Cynics argue the latter. Some others believe that maybe a miracle is at hand.

    And as Israel’s first president, David Ben Gurion, once said: To be a pragmatist in Israel, you have to believe in miracles.

    Martin Fletcher is the author of "The List," "Breaking News" and "Walking Israel."

    Related:

    Fatah, Hamas hold talks ahead of possible negotiations with Israel

    UN panel: Israel must withdraw all settlers from the West Bank

    Surprisingly centrist vote has Netanyahu reaching to the left

    This story was originally published on Thu Feb 21, 2013 4:42 AM EST

  • Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's ice cream budget frozen

    By Vignesh Ramachandran, Staff Writer, NBC News

    Some have called it a "meltdown."

    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu likes his ice cream — but he's frozen his annual ice cream budget after the size of it was publicized, The Associated Press reported.


    An Israel economic publication, Calcalist, published an article last week pointing out purchases on the prime minister's annual expense budget, the AP reported. Netanyahu's office reportedly requested and was granted permission to buy up to 10,000 shekels -- or about US$2,700 -- of ice cream from the state budget per year, the Calcalist reported.

    Following publication of the Calcalist's findings, the prime minister came under criticism at a time when he is working to pass an austerity budget that reportedly affects teachers, social workers and police officers, The Guardian reported.

    Political opponent Shelly Yachimovich, leader of Israel's Labor Party, was critical of the ice cream funding in a Facebook post on Feb. 14.

    "If there's no bread, let them eat ice-cream. Should we laugh or cry? Was that what he meant when he said there are no 'free meals'?" Yachimovich's post said, according to The Guardian's translation.

    Netanyahu's office told the AP on Sunday that once the prime minister was made aware of this ice cream contract, he called it "excessive and unacceptable" and ordered that it be stopped right away, the AP reported.

    But not everyone is upset.

    "It's really a shame," ice cream maker Serena Kanfi told The Jerusalem Post. "He's also a human being. He should be able to eat ice cream wherever he wants."

    "They have a lot of guests and invite a lot of people," Kanfi also told the newspaper.

    Netanyahu has a fancy for vanilla and pistachio ice creams, according to the Calcalist.

  • Israel to probe death of alleged Mossad recruit

    Ronen Zvulun / Reuters

    Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government has restricted reporting in Israel on the case, which is overshadowing his victory in a national election held last month.

    By Dan Williams and Allyn Fisher, Reuters

    JERUSALEM - Israeli lawmakers announced plans on Sunday to investigate the 2010 jailhouse death of a reported Australian immigrant recruit to the Mossad spy agency.

    The statement by Parliament's Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee followed calls by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a cabinet meeting to dim a growing media spotlight on the affair he saw as at risk of jeopardizing national security.

    The case kept under wraps for two years then publicized by Australian television last Tuesday involves a 34-year-old immigrant, Ben Zygier, said to be a Mossad operative held on suspicion of security offences, who died of what has been labeled an apparent suicide behind bars.

    In a terse communique, the legislative panel's subcommittee on intelligence said it has "decided to conduct an intensive examination of all aspects of the incident involving the prisoner found dead in his (prison) cell in December 2010."

    While unlikely to have any immediate political consequences the investigation may lead to a wider inquiry with potentially broader repercussions.

    Netanyahu's government has restricted reporting in Israel on the case, now overshadowing his victory in a national election held last month, using court gag orders, military censorship and direct requests to news editors.

    Such steps have done little to douse demands for the authorities to come clean about the circumstances of Zygier's imprisonment and how he was able to kill himself in a highly-supervised isolation cell.

    Without citing the case specifically, Netanyahu said on Sunday he "absolutely trusts" Israel's security services and what he described as the independent legal monitoring system under which they operated.

    "We are an exemplary democracy," Netanyahu said in remarks aired by Israeli broadcasters.

    "But we are also more threatened, more challenged, and therefore we have to ensure the proper operation of our security branches," Netanyahu also said.

    "Therefore I ask over everyone: Let the security services continue working quietly so that we can continue to live in safety and tranquility in the State of Israel."

    The few Israeli officials who have spoken of Zygier's case have not denied that he was linked to Mossad, which in early 2010 was accused by Dubai of using Australian passport-holders to assassinate a Palestinian arms procurer in the Gulf emirate.

    Media reports have speculated that Israel suspected the Melbourne-born Jew of betraying or threatening to divulge Mossad missions, perhaps to Australia's security services, as they probed passport fraud.

    Civil liberties groups and some Israeli lawmakers have demanded to know whether Zygier's rights were violated by his months of incarceration under alias.

    'Grave charges'
    In an apparent reversal from previous statements, Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr said on Thursday his ministry had known about Zygier's jailing as early as February 2010. On Wednesday he said Australian diplomats in Israel only found out about the detention after his death in custody later that year.

    Avigdor Feldman, an Israeli lawyer with whom Zygier consulted in Ayalon prison, said last week that that meeting was arranged by a "Mossad liaison" and that his client had denied "grave charges" for which he awaited trial.

    Feldman also said that Zygier's family, which has declined all comment on the affair, knew about his detention. The incarceration was approved by several Israeli courts.

    Two senior cabinet members, Intelligence Minister Dan Meridor and Strategic Affairs Minister Moshe Yaalon, told Israeli media on Saturday the case was rare but lawful.

    "There are extreme situations...to do with our security and even the need to preserve human life, when we need to take an extreme step such as this," Yaalon told Channel Two television.

    Meridor said that publishing the prisoner's identity would have risked "serious harm to security." He did not elaborate.

    Tzachi Hanegbi, a lawmaker from Netanyahu's conservative Likud party said he had never been informed of Zygier's arrest as chairman of the parliamentary defence panel at the time.

    "This requires explanation," Hanegbi said. "Usually, every significant subject, whether it is impressive achievements or embarrassing failures, is laid out before the subcommittee."

    Former Mossad director Danny Yatom told Reuters the agency was under no legal obligation to brief oversight lawmakers in such circumstances.

    Related:

    Controversy erupts on two continents over Israel's 'Prisoner X'

    Israel confirms jailing mystery foreigner

    This story was originally published on Sun Feb 17, 2013 8:30 PM EST

  • Surprisingly centrist vote has Israel's Netanyahu reaching to left

    Nir Elias / Reuters

    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu leaves the Likud-Yisrael Beitenu headquarters in Tel Aviv on Wednesday.

    By Amy Teibel, The Associated Press

    A badly weakened Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu scrambled Wednesday to keep his job by extending his hand to a new centrist party that advocates a more earnest push on peacemaking with the Palestinians after Israel's parliamentary election produced a stunning deadlock.

    The results defied forecasts that Israel's next government would veer sharply to the right at a time when the country faces mounting international isolation, growing economic problems and regional turbulence. While that opens the door to unexpected movement on peace efforts, a coalition joining parties with dramatically divergent views on peacemaking, the economy and the military draft could just as easily be headed for gridlock — and perhaps a short life.

    Israeli media said that with nearly all votes counted, each bloc had 60 of parliament's 120 seats. Commentators said Netanyahu, who called early elections three months ago expecting easy victory, would be tapped to form the next government because the rival camp drew 12 of its 60 seats from Arab parties that traditionally are excluded from coalition building.

    Ammar Awad / Reuters

    Yair Lapid, leader of the Yesh Atid (There is a Future) party, addresses supporters at his party's headquarters in Tel Aviv on Wednesday. The surprise star of Israel's election is a former television news anchor whose centrist party soared to second place in the balloting.

    A surprising, strong showing by a political newcomer, the centrist Yesh Atid, or There is a Future, party, in Tuesday's vote turned pre-election forecasts on their heads and dealt a setback to Netanyahu. Yesh Atid's leader, Yair Lapid, has said he would join a government only if it were committed to sweeping economic changes and a serious push to resume peace talks with the Palestinians, which have languished throughout Netanyahu's four-year tenure.

    The results were not official, and the final bloc breakdowns could shift before the central elections committee finishes its tally early Thursday. With the blocs so evenly divided, there remains a remote possibility that Netanyahu would not form the next government, even though both he and Lapid have called for the creation of a broad coalition.

    How Israeli elections work
    Under Israel's parliamentary system, voters cast ballots for parties, not individual candidates. Because no party throughout Israel's 64-year history has ever won an outright majority of parliamentary seats, the country has always been governed by coalitions.

    Traditionally, the party that wins the largest number of seats is given the first chance to form a governing alliance in negotiations that center around promising Cabinet posts and policy concessions. If those negotiations are successful, the leader of that party becomes prime minister. If not, the task falls to a smaller faction. President Shimon Peres has until mid-February to set that process in motion.

    Netanyahu's Likud-Yisrael Beitenu alliance polled strongest in Tuesday's election, winning 31 parliamentary seats. But that is 11 fewer than the 42 it held in the outgoing parliament and below the forecasts of 32 to 37 in recent polls. Yesh Atid had been projected to capture about a dozen seats but won 19, making it the second-largest in the legislature.

    Addressing his supporters early Wednesday, when an earlier vote count gave his bloc a shaky, one-seat parliamentary margin, Netanyahu vowed to form as broad a coalition as possible. Lapid also called for the formation of a broad government.

    The goal will not be an easy one, however, and will force Netanyahu to make some difficult decisions. In an interview last week with The Associated Press, Lapid said he would not be a "fig leaf" for a hard-line agenda on peacemaking.

    That stance could force Netanyahu to promise overtures to get peace negotiations moving again.

    But a harder line taken by traditional and future hawkish allies could present formidable obstacles to coalition building.

    Tensions with the United States, Israel's most important ally, also may have factored into the shift to Lapid. President Barack Obama was quoted last week as saying that Netanyahu was undermining Israel's own interests by continuing to build Jewish settlements on occupied lands the Palestinians want for a future state.

    Related:

    Charismatic ex-commando pressures Netanyahu from the right as Israel prepares to vote

    Avast! Israel's Pirate Party angles for 2 percent of electoral booty

    Israelis head to polls as shift to right is expected

     

    © 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

  • Charismatic ex-commando pressures Netanyahu from the right as Israel prepares to vote

    Millionaire Naftali Bennett, who is bitterly opposed to a Palestinian state, is set to propel his party into a key position during upcoming elections. NBC's John Ray reports.

    By John Ray, Correspondent, NBC News

    TEL AVIV, Israel — Something very curious is happening at the top of Israeli politics.

    Benyamin Netanyahu — who has flown high as a hawk — is in danger of looking a little dovish.

    It’s not that the prime minister, who seeks and will almost certainly win re-election on Tuesday, has transformed himself into a peacenik. On the contrary; his campaign ads feature an intimidating cast of Israel’s nasty neighbors Hamas, Hezbollah and doesn't forget Iran. The message — that only strong-man Netanyahu can be trusted to defend the nation.

    The problem is that Netanyahu is being outflanked on the even harder right, which means that after the elections, he will feel pressure to become more hardline on issues such as Palestinian statehood. 

    It is probably even more galling for him that the rising star and rival is a former aide. 

    '100 years of bloodshed'
    Like most political pretenders here, Naftali Bennett boasts a military background, in his case as an army commando. He’s also a successful businessman who sold his company for a multi-million dollar fortune. What distinguishes him is a rare energy and a charisma often lacking in his counterparts. That, and a willingness to speak bluntly.

    "Injecting an artificial Arab state within the land of Israel would bring 100 years of bloodshed and war that would never end. It’s not good for the Arabs. It’s not good for the Israelis," he said.

    Dan Balilty / Pool via Getty Images

    Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits the Ariel University Center in the West Bank on Jan. 8. The institution's status was recently formally upgraded, making it the first university in the West Bank Jewish settlements.

    It is a message that has thrilled Israel’s settler community — the hundreds of thousands of  Jews who live on land occupied by Israel since 1967, illegally according to international law.  Peace talks with the Palestinians — around 2.5 million of whom live in the West Bank and East Jerusalem — ground to a halt in 2010 after Netanyahu decided not to extend a moratorium on the building of settlements.

    Related: Avast! Israel's Pirate Party angles for 2 percent of electoral booty

    Netanyahu maintains that he is still committed to the creation of a Palestinian state as part of peace deal, but only as long as it is not a threat to Israel's security.

    For their part, Bennett and his Jewish Home party have no plans to turn the land over. Rather, the party proposes to annex nearly two-thirds of it, inviting any Palestinians who live there to take Israeli citizenship — or to leave. His popularity was clear during a recent rally in the southern city of Be'er Sheva as supporters, many too young to actually vote, mobbed him.

    More Israel coverage from NBC News

    Bennett is especially popular among the Jewish population in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron, where Israeli soldiers patrol streets closed to Palestinians to protect a few hundred settlers.

    "He’s a good guy, a very good guy," two young Jewish men said as they flashed a thumbs-up. 

    Bennett is strong and will look after Jewish communities, many fellow settlers believe.

    President Obama's second term will be just hours old when he'll need to turn his attention to elections in Israel, where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has campaigned largely on one issue: security. NBC's Jim Maceda reports.

    He won’t win the election, of course. But his party might finish third or even second and under the proportional system of government here, that pretty much guarantees him a seat in the next ruling coalition.

    His uncompromising voice will leave Netanyahu — the ace tactician — with less wiggle room as he deals with the tricky issues of settlements, Palestinians, war and peace.

    And all that against a backdrop of a new American administration showing signs that it is tired of always having to stick up for its ally, no matter what.

    To Israelis, who live in a tough neighborhood, strong men have always appealed.

    But to survive, many know that this country also needs friends and they fret that Bennett and his like on the hard right will only isolate Israel further.

    Follow NBC / ITV correspondent John Ray on Twitter.

    Related: 

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    Israeli-Palestinian conflict plays out in a rocky field

    Hamas leader returns to Palestinian territories for first time since 1967

  • Israel's Defense Minister Barak resigns from politics

    Nir Elias / Reuters

    Israel's Defence Minister Ehud Barak announced his resignation from politics at a news conference in Tel Aviv on Monday. A former prime minister, he has served as defense minister since 2007.

    By NBC News staff and wire reports

    JERUSALEM - Defense Minister Ehud Barak, a main architect of Israel's policy toward Iran's nuclear program, said in a surprise announcement on Monday that he was quitting politics and would not run in the Jan. 22 national election.

    "I have decided to retire from political life and not to run for the next Knesset ... I will end my term as defense minister once the next government is established, in about three months," he told a news conference.


    "I want to dedicate more time to my family. I feel I have exhausted dealing with political life, which has never been a passion of mine, and I feel there is room to allow other people to serve in senior roles in Israel," he said.

    ANALYSIS: It may not be over for Israel’s Barak

    Opinion polls had predicted a poor showing for the small centrist Independence party that Barak currently leads, but recently indicated that voter support had strengthened as a result of Israel's eight-day offensive in the Gaza Strip that ended in a cease-fire on Wednesday.

    Barak, 70, has been a key player in Israel's tough policy toward curbing Iran's nuclear ambitions and has been Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's unofficial envoy to Washington in order to smooth over differences with the Obama White House. However, the two, who enjoyed a close working relationship for most of the past four years, have reportedly fallen out over whether to defer to the U.S. on any attack against Iranian nuclear facilities.

    Americans tied to Israel caught in the chaos of Gaza conflict

    He has been defense minister since 2007 and served as prime minister from the Labor party from 1999 to 2001.

    Before getting involved in politics, Barak was an army commando who rose to the highest ranks of the military, becoming Israel's most decorated soldier. As prime minister, he initiated Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon in 2000. Then, two years after becoming prime minister, he lost an election to Ariel Sharon.

    After his resignation, Barak says he plans to "study, to write, to live and have a good time."

    Slideshow: Israel and Gaza: 8 days of violence

    Bernat Armangue / AP

    Israel's military said it had accomplished its objectives while Hamas claimed victory after the two sides exchanged deadly airstrikes and rocket attacks for over a week.

    Launch slideshow

    The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

    More world stories from NBC News:

    Follow World News from NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook


  • Real cease-fire or just another 'time out'?

    The violence continues in Gaza while negotiations between Hamas and Israel are taking place in Egypt. An estimated 100 Palestinians and three Israelis have been killed so far. NBC's John Ray reports.

    By Jim Maceda, NBC News

    Despite rumors of an imminent truce, Israel and Hamas remain miles apart in coming to a real deal. Each side is blaming the other for starting the current conflict – and both are insistent that the other stop first.


    Hamas’ leader-in-exile, Khaled Meshaal, summed up his organization’s defiant position at a news conference today in Cairo: “Let those who started this crazy war stop it, on our conditions.”

    Hamas says 'land war' would cost Israeli PM Netanyahu the election

    Feeling the winds of the Arab Spring at its back, Hamas seems intent on emerging from this conflict stronger than when it entered it. Its conditions include an immediate lifting of Israel’s naval blockade, the opening of all its borders, an end to targeted killings and cross-border raids, and international guarantees that a new status quo will last.

    At the same time, Hamas is clear that it has no intention of ending its war against Israel, whose existence it doesn’t recognize and has pledged to destroy. “Gaza’s demand is not to halt a war,” said Meshaal. “Its demand is for legitimate rights.”

    Israel, meanwhile, is demanding the opposite -- that Hamas shut down all militant activity, including rocket fire by all Palestinian factions, all smuggling of weapons into Gaza -- and insists on its right to go after “terrorists” inside Gaza in the event of an attack or even a tip-off about a future strike.

    In other words, they’re at loggerheads. And so, after a surge of optimism about a deal to halt the violence that has cost dozens of lives in Gaza and three in Israel, reality was settling in late Monday in Cairo.

    To add to all the tension, Israel’s Yediot Aharonot newspaper reported another Israeli demand: that if Hamas doesn’t respond to Israel’s demands in the next 48-72 hours, it will launch the ground offensive into Gaza.

    Influence of the Arab Spring
    In the past, Egypt has been a reliable broker in conflicts involving the Palestinians and Israel, but that was before the Arab Spring drove Hosni Mubarak from power and replaced him with Mohamed Morsi, formerly of the Muslim Brotherhood, an organization whose sworn ambition is to restore a Palestinian state where Israel now lies.

    Related links:

    Key players in the Israel-Gaza cross-border conflict

    How Israel's 'Iron Dome' intercepts incoming rockets in Gaza conflict

    Israeli government websites under mass hacking attack

    Morsi’s situation is nuanced. Both Hamas and Israel know that he has had to moderate his views since becoming president, in part because he doesn’t want to antagonize Egypt’s powerful military establishment, which -- like much of Egypt -- does not want to tangle with Israel and is anxious that radical Islamists not  gain a foothold in  the country. In pursuit of this, he has cracked down on militants smuggling arms across the Gaza border.

    In addition, the new Egyptian leader’s task is complicated by the need to appeal to both the Islamists who elected him and the United States, which supplies billions of dollars in aid.

    Egyptian critics, such as former newspaper editor Abdel Moneim Said, think Morsi is in over his head and that he can’t deliver a lasting truce. “This basically means that Egypt has essentially lost its ability to handle the conflict.” Said said. “There is no [Egyptian] mediator, this time."

    That, in essence, boils down to a stare-down between Israel and Hamas: between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has said that Israel is no longer interested in just another “time out,” and Hamas leaders such as Meshaal, who on Monday said, with a proud smile on his face: “We didn’t ask for a truce. The Israelis did!”

    At present, a time-out is probably the best that anyone can hope for.

    Slideshow: Israel, Gaza violence escalates

    /

    Two sides exchange deadly airstrikes, rocket attacks.

    Launch slideshow

    Jim Maceda is an NBC News correspondent based in London currently on assignment in Cairo. He’s covered the Middle East since the 1970s.

    More world stories from NBC News:

    Follow World News from NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook

     

  • Key players in the Israel-Gaza cross-border conflict

    By NBC News staff

    Reuters

    Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gestures as he delivers a statement to the foreign media in Tel Aviv on Nov. 15.

    The long-running cross-border conflict escalated on Nov. 14, when Israel killed the military chief of Hamas, the Islamist political party that governs the Gaza Strip. Israel also launched strikes inside Gaza in response to Hamas firing rockets on its territory, particularly in the south, and Hamas stepped up its rocket attacks, which included firing on Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.


    Here is a list of key players in this conflict:

    Israel Defense Forces
    The Israel Defense Forces are Israel's military force, responsible for the airstrikes on the Gaza Strip. The IDF said it is targeting Hamas’ rocket launch sites and other weapons storage facilities. An Israeli airstrike on Nov. 14 killed Ahmed Jabari, the most senior commander of Hamas' military wing, the Ezzidine Al-Qassam Brigades.

    On Nov. 16, the IDF said more than 16,000 reservists had been mobilized. On Nov. 16, Israel's cabinet authorized the mobilization of up to 75,000 reserve troops for the Gaza campaign.

    Benjamin Netanyahu
    Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu is an Israeli leader and the current prime minister of Israel. He is favored to win re-election in January. On Nov. 15, Netanyahu indicated plans for a "significant widening" of military strikes in Gaza.

    Abir Sultan / EPA file

    Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak looks on during the opening of the Knesset plenum in Jerusalem, Israel, on Oct. 15.

    Ehud Barak
    Ehud Barak is Israel's minister of defense. Following Gaza's strikes aimed at Tel Aviv, Barak said on Nov. 15: "This escalation will exact a price that the other side will have to pay." On Nov. 16, Israeli officials said Barak will seek cabinet approval for funds that could provide Israel with three new Iron Dome rocket interceptors.

    Hamas
    Hamas is the Islamist political party and militant group that has been governing the Gaza Strip separately from the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority since 2007. It emerged as the Palestinian wing of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, and its stated goal is to "liberate" Palestinian territories from the Israeli occupation. Hamas refuses to recognize Israel's right to exist. Hamas' military commander, Ahmed Jabari, was killed Nov. 14 in an Israeli airstrike.

    Hamas Office via Reuters, file

    Ahmed Jabari, top commander of Hamas' military.

    Ahmed Jabari
    Ahmed Jabari was a Hamas military leader. He was killed in a surgical airstrike on Nov. 14 as part of a larger Israeli offensive in Gaza. Jabari was the most senior commander of Hamas' military wing, the Ezzidine Al-Qassam Brigades. Jabari had survived numerous assassination attempts in the past and had served close to a decade in an Israeli jail, according to NBC's Ayman Mohyeldin. He was widely considered the second most important figure within Hamas' overall structure after Khaled Mishaal, the head of the organization’s political bureau. Jabari was instrumental in negotiations about the release of kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, Mohyeldin said. Jabari was rarely seen in public and even more seldom filmed, but he was seen accompanying Shalit to the border crossing with Egypt ahead of his handover.

    Asmaa Waguih / Reuters, file

    Egypt's Prime Minister Hisham Kandil talks during an interview with Reuters in Cairo on Sept. 9.

    Hesham Kandil
    Hesham Kandil is the prime minister of Egypt. Politically independent, he was appointed by President Mohamed Morsi on July 24 to Egypt's new Islamist government. On Nov. 16, Kandil visited the Gaza Strip to show support for Palestinians in the cross-border conflict with Israel.

    Mohamed Morsi
    Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi assumed office on June 30. A member of Hamas' parent movement, the Muslim Brotherhood, Morsi said on Nov. 16: "I say with all confidence Egypt will not leave Gaza on its own." The Islamist politician was elected this year after 2011 protests ousted military leader Hosni Mubarak.

    Egyptian Presidency via Reuters

    Egypt's President Mohamed Morsi at the presidential palace in Cairo on Nov. 14.

    Muslim Brotherhood
    The Muslim Brotherhood is an Islamic movement founded in Egypt. The Brotherhood won the Egyptian elections this summer. One of its members, Mohamed Morsi, became Egypt's first president after the 2011 revolution, which was backed by the Muslim Brotherhood and led to the ouster of autocratic leader Hosni Mubarak. Hamas, the Islamist political party and militant group that has been governing the Gaza Strip, is a wing of the Muslim Brotherhood.

    Reuters contributed to this report.

    Slideshow: Israel, Gaza violence escalates

    Amir Cohen / Reuters

    Two sides exchange deadly airstrikes, rocket attacks.

    Launch slideshow

  • Election over, Obama inbox overflows with world crises

    Kevin Lamarque / Reuters, file

    President Barack Obama meets Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the United Nations in New York in September 2011. Netanyahu argues that sanctions on Iran will not halt its nuclear program -- one of many points of discord between Obama and Netanyahu.

    By Jim Maceda, NBC News

    News analysis

    LONDON — The bunting’s down, the confetti swept away. The U.S. elections are over and President Barack Obama, the winner of four more years in power, can now cast an eye beyond the water’s edge — to those thorny international problems that were bad enough before the vote and have only festered since then.

    On the top of Obama’s in-tray: Syria. The civil war there is relentless. Opposition sources say at least 38,000 people have been killed. Syrian leader Bashar Assad pledges he will live and die in Syria. Only a puppet, he says, would step down or flee his nation for exile.

     

    Every effort by the United Nations to end the fighting has been stymied by Russia and China vetoes. It is no wonder that, hours after Obama’s re-election, British Prime Minister David Cameron said that the crisis in Syria would be one of the first topics they would discuss.

    The whole world was watching as America chose its president, and the general sentiment appeared to be a sigh of relief. NBC's Richard Engel reports.

    Collective pressure has not worked and, with the need to appeal to his liberal, Democratic base now removed in a second term, Obama may harden his stance and agree to arm the Syrian rebels under certain conditions.

    As one British official told Reuters on Thursday: "We want to put everything (back) on the table."

    World leaders welcome Obama's 2nd term — but many challenges wait on his doorstep

    That could mean forming, along with Cameron and other allies, a Libya-style military response which, in turn, might include air strikes and a no-fly zone.

    Cameron summed up the dire situation in remarks released in London on Thursday.

    In an interview with a Russian television channel, Syrian President Bashar Assad vowed to live and die in Syria, amid the 19-month old uprising against him. NBC's Ayman Mohyeldin reports.

    "Look, let’s be frank. What we’ve done over the past 18 months hasn’t been enough," he said.

    Top 10 foreign policy issues facing Obama

    Still, enforcing a no-fly zone without a U.N. mandate would be fraught with problems. Expect to see Obama finding a way to arm some rebels if they get their house in order and unite around principles the United States can support.

    Ali Jarekji / Reuters

    Britaish Prime Minister David Cameron, fourth from left, walks with Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh, sixth from left, and U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees representative to Jordan Andrew Harper at the Al Zaatri refugee camp in the Jordanian city of Mafraq, near the border with Syria, on Wednesday.

    Ticking time bomb?
    Iran is next on Obama’s to-fix list. Can anyone forget Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ticking bomb whiteboard presentation at the U.N. General Assembly? With the sweep of a red Sharpie, Netanyahu claimed that Iran will have enough enriched uranium to make a bomb by early 2013.

    Victorious Obama 'more determined' in face of challenges


    U.S. intelligence believes Iran will not have a weapon before 2014, and in his first term Obama has opted to use that time to allow tough sanctions to bite.

    But Netanyahu argues that sanctions will not work, and that the Iranians can speed up the bomb-making process — it is one of many points of discord between Obama and Netanyahu, raising U.S.-Israeli tensions. 

    Now that he's won, six splitting headaches waiting for Obama

    My colleague, Martin Fletcher, writes that many Israelis fear Obama — again, with his re-election pressures gone — may now try to negotiate a deal directly with Tehran that could leave Israel exposed.

    Or Obama may stay the course in his second term, continuing to apply pressure through sanctions, while neither flashing Israel a green or red light to strike Iran. But Obama’s reluctance to get involved militarily in Iran is unlikely to change.

    In an attempt to convey what he sees as a threat to Israel's existence, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu used a cartoon to illustrate how close he says Iran is to developing a nuclear weapon. In a speech at the United Nations General Assembly he asked the world to help stop them. NBC's Andrea Mitchell reports.

    'Sleeping bear'
    It is difficult to mention Syria and Iran without turning to Russia. The "sleeping bear" which, led by the mercurial Vladimir Putin, seems to counter American diplomatic efforts at every turn. 

    When asked what are the three top issues facing U.S.-Russian relations, Michael McFaul, the American ambassador in Moscow, ticks them off without missing a beat are: Syria, Iran and missile defense.

    As anti-US policies multiply, should next president treat Russia as friend or foe?

    The latter is a red line for Russia. The placing of a NATO anti-missile defense shield — Washington says to stop missiles fired from Iran — near Russia’s border with Europe. But there is some cause for hope that, in his final term in office, Obama will find the "space" to compromise.

    In March, Obama was caught by a live microphone saying as much to then-Russian President Dmitri Medvedev (this later became a talking point for Republican candidate Mitt Romney, who said: "When the president of the United States is speaking with the leader of Russia, saying he can be more flexible after the election, that is an alarming and troubling development.")

    But it remains difficult to know how concretely Obama can compromise. A Republican-led House of Representatives will oppose any Obama administration attempt to offer classified information about the missile shield to placate the Russians.

    NBCNews.com's The World is Watching series

    There is talk of Obama putting on a charm offensive in his second term. McFaul told Russian radio this week that Obama would like to visit Russia soon — but so far, since the "resetting" of the button in U.S.-Russian relations, Obama has watched Putin crack down on pro-democracy protesters and attack symbols of American values, like shutting down USAID and Radio Liberty inside Russia. 

    Down-ballot races showed deep ideological, regional divides across US

    Instead, Obama could choose in a second term to focus more on what are perhaps easier issues, like adoptions and visas.

    "The next phase ... has to do with a hundred small things," McFaul told the Moscow Times. "And it’s hard to keep our governments focused on a hundred small things." But the big things may remain too big to handle.

    Russia will be at the top of the foreign policy agenda for whoever is in the White House. Ordinary Russians give their view of the election to NBC News in Moscow.

    China issues go beyond trade
    There are — of course — many other issues in Obama’s inbox waiting for his attention: tensions with China, for instance, go beyond issues of trade.

    On Thursday, as China marked its once-in-a-decade transition to new leadership, a U.S. government report said the emerging super-power is just two years away from deploying submarine-launched nuclear weapons, adding a sea leg to its nuclear arsenal of at least 240 nuclear bombs.

    Suspicion of US rife as White House contenders batter China

    The worry is that China is the only original nuclear weapons state that is expanding its nuclear force. 

    But what to do about China is just one of many dilemmas for Obama.

    He also needs to decide how to stop the spread of al-Qaida in the Middle East and Africa, whether to continue to use drones to strike terrorist targets, how to deal with the new governments emerging from the Arab Spring, and how he will approach the seemingly intractable Israeli-Palestinian stalemate.

    24 hours after President Barack Obama was re-elected to the White House, the world's other major power, China, began the very different process of choosing its new leader. It happens once every ten years, and lasts just a week. And in case there was any doubt, the ruling Communist Party began by pledging never to have Western democracy. NBC's Angus Walker reports.

    And — in Afghanistan — Obama faces a decision as to whether to end the war there in 2014, or, as some military commanders have hinted, part company with his anti-war political "base" and keep some 15-20,000 U.S. troops in country for years to come.

    Cleary, Obama’s in-tray is full of challenges, and a four-year term is awfully short. But at least the distractions of his re-election are behind him. Obama can now look forward.  As he likes to say, "there’s a lot of work to do." 

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  • Payback time? Israelis wonder what Obama victory will mean for Netanyahu

    Saul Loeb / AFP - Getty Images

    U.S. President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speak during meetings at the White House in Washington, D.C. on March 5, 2012.

    By Martin Fletcher, NBC News

    News analysis

    TEL AVIV, Israel -- Payback time. That is what many Israeli leaders are worrying about on Wednesday, concerned that their prime minister backed the wrong horse in the U.S. election.

    Instead of staying out of American domestic affairs during the U.S. race, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared to be un-subtly backing Mitt Romney.  

    On Wednesday, Yair Lapid, a young Israeli politician, spoke for many:

    “During the election campaign in the U.S., the prime minister acted and spoke in a manner that was interpreted as blatant intervention on behalf of the Republican candidate, contrary to the customary relations between states. We call upon Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to take immediate steps to mend the shaky relationship between him and the administration in Washington.”

    However, analysts here point out it takes two to fight.

    Slideshow: Election 2012

    Kevin Lamarque / Reuters

    Campaigning with Mitt Romney and Barack Obama, voting and election results.

    Launch slideshow

    Barack Obama never visited Israel as president, he was cool toward Netanyahu in Washington, and he famously had himself photographed with his shoes on his desk while talking on the phone to the Israeli leader, a gesture understood by Israelis as a slap in the face. Showing the soles of your feet to someone is considered in the Arab world to be a mortal insult, hence the satisfaction among Arabs when an Iraqi journalist took off his shoes and threw them at President George W. Bush during a press conference in Baghdad in December 2008.

    Top 10 foreign policy issues facing Obama


    But the analysts -- perhaps expressing wishful thinking -- insist that the poor relations between Netanyahu and Obama do not translate into American policy: America, they say, will remain true to the principles that have guided it in the Mideast for decades, in particular support for a two-state solution.

    And personal relations aside, real issues remain unsettled, the most urgent being Iran. Many here believe that Obama in his second term will quickly move to repair relations with Iran by beginning direct negotiations over bilateral issues, as well as over Iran’s nuclear program.

    US-Israel rift over Iran widens; Obama denies Netanyahu asked for meeting

    Israel’s fear is that the United States will reach a compromise with Iran that Israel cannot live with.

    In an attempt to convey what he sees as a threat to Israel's existence, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu used a cartoon to illustrate how close he says Iran is to developing a nuclear weapon. In a speech at the United Nations General Assembly he asked the world to help stop them. NBC's Andrea Mitchell reports.

    However, if America commits to some kind of agreement with Iran, it would tie Israel’s hands: Israel cannot act against the open wishes of its major supporter.

    On the other hand, if Iran again rejects Obama’s overtures, that may pave the way for the “all options are on the table” option -- in other words, a military strike that Netanyahu appears to believe is inevitable.

    Under Obama, Israel also expects more pressure to resume talks with the Palestinians. Netanyahu, many Israelis and Hamas, the Islamist group that rules Gaza, as well as many other Palestinians believe that is pointless.

    World leaders welcome Obama's 2nd term -- but many challenges wait on his doorstep

    The danger is that yet again Israelis and Palestinians will vie to appear most cooperative with Washington, while blaming each other for the ensuing stalemate.

    In the spirit of diplomacy, Netanyahu quickly released a statement congratulating Obama on his victory and was reported to be trying to organize a congratulatory phone call.

    "The strategic alliance between Israel and the U.S. is stronger than ever,” Netanyahu said in a statement. “I will continue to work with President Obama to protect the security interests of Israeli citizens."

    Analysis: Israel, Iran name checks illustrate America's twin obsessions

    For how long, though? Within half a day of President Obama’s inauguration on January 21, Israel will vote in its own elections.

    Will Netanyahu get re-elected? And if so, will Obama pay Netanyahu back by sending not-so-subtle messages in support of Netanyahu's adversaries? 

    Martin Fletcher is the author of "The List", "Breaking News" and "Walking Israel".

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  • Palestinian leader's refugee comments shatter taboo, reignite debate in Israel

    Mohamad Torokman / Reuters, file

    Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas waves as he arrives to vote in municipal elections at a polling station in Al-Bireh, West Bank, on Oct. 20.

    By NBC News staff and wire reports

    JERUSALEM -- The Palestinian president has set off a strident debate by shattering a once-inviolable taboo, publicly suggesting his people would have to relinquish claims to ancestral homes in Israel.

    Mahmoud Abbas' comments on the refugee issue, made in an interview on Israeli TV over the weekend, triggered hot responses from Palestinians and Israelis alike.

    In Israel, it suddenly put the long-sidelined issue of peace talks back in the Israeli public's consciousness ahead of parliamentary elections.

    Palestinians have demanded that as many as five million of their compatriots -- original war refugees and their descendants -- be granted the right of return to towns and villages that became part of Israel after its founding in 1948. The establishment of the modern state of Israel is referred to in Arabic as “al Nakba,” or “the catastrophe.”

    Analysis: Israel, Iran name checks illustrate America's twin obsessions

    Israel, saying an influx of refugees would eliminate its Jewish majority, has proposed they be resettled in a future Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, territories it occupied in a 1967 war. Israel also rejects the concept of a legal "right of return."

    In the interview, Abbas was asked about his birthplace of Safed -- now a town in northern Israel. He told the interviewer that while he would like to visit, he does not claim the right to live there.

    Dan Balilty / AP, file

    People walk the streets of Safed, northern Israel, on Oct. 12. Safed is the birthplace of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

    "I am a refugee, but I am living in Ramallah (in the West Bank). I believe that the West Bank and Gaza is Palestine. And the other parts is Israel," Abbas said in English. "I want to see Safed. It is my right to see it, but not to live there," he said.

    ‘Realistic’ or ‘a failure’?
    The comments were widely seen as an acknowledgment that return of all the refugees would be impossible. While Palestinian officials privately acknowledge that, they have been reluctant to say so in public.

    His adviser, Nimr Hammad, said Abbas was being "realistic."

    "He knows he can't bring back 5.5 million Palestinian refugees to Israel," Hammad said.

    Some West Bank Palestinians were disappointed that their leader had made an overture to Israel without receiving any gestures in exchange.

    "President Abbas is a failure," said Iyad Alotol, a government employee in Ramallah. "He is ceding the right of return without getting anything from the Israelis. He is a man who makes concessions for free."

    Later Saturday, Abbas appeared to pull back from his comments, telling Egypt's al-Hayat television in Arabic: "Speaking about Safed was a personal position and it did not mean conceding the right of return."

    Watch World News videos on NBCNews.com

    Abbas, an outspoken proponent of a diplomatic solution with Israel, has little to show for his efforts. He has seen his popularity steadily decline in the West Bank, and in 2007, he lost control of the Gaza Strip to the rival Islamic militant Hamas.

    Condemnation of Abbas predictably was harsh in Gaza. Hamas rejects negotiations and believe only violence will persuade Israel to give up captured territory.

    Gaza Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh termed Abbas' remarks "extremely dangerous." At demonstrations in Gaza on Saturday, some protesters burned posters of a smiling Abbas, and others emblazoned the word "traitor" on posters of the Palestinian leader.

    Mohammed Saber / EPA

    Palestinians supporting Hamas burn posters showing Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas during a demonstration Saturday in the Jabaliya refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip.

    Cool reaction from Netanyahu
    In Israel, officials debated how serious Abbas was.

    Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and members of his Cabinet reacted coolly, even mistrustfully, to Abbas' remarks.

    "I watched President Abbas's interview at the weekend, and I heard that since then he has already managed to recant," Netanyahu told his cabinet, urging Abbas to return to direct peace negotiations, suspended since 2010, to clarify his positions.

    Israel admits killing deputy of late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat

    Israeli moderates warned against missing a chance to negotiate with a person they consider a partner for peacemaking.

    The Abbas interview appeared to be aimed at soothing Israeli concerns before he goes to the United Nations later this month in hopes of winning "nonmember state" observer status for a Palestinian state inside the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem.

    Israel opposes the U.N. bid, accusing Abbas of trying to sidestep the negotiating process. It says the borders of a Palestinian state can be determined only through direct negotiations.


    "Peace can be advanced only around the negotiating table, and not through unilateral resolutions at the U.N. General Assembly, which will only put peace further away and bring about instability," Netanyahu said.

    "I think President Abbas wanted to convey a message of assurance to the Israelis ahead of their elections, that he wants to have a state within the 1967 borders and doesn't seek war or to delegitimize Israel," said Palestinian analyst Bassem Zbaidi. "He told them, I'm not going to the U.N. to besiege you, on the contrary, I'm going to make peace with you."

    In an editorial on Monday, the left-leaning Haaretz Daily showed support for Abbas, who it described as a “brave and pragmatic Palestinian leader who supports resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict peacefully.”

    “It is disappointing that the political parties fighting for a spot in the center of the Israeli political map have responded so coolly to the encouraging messages relayed by the Palestinian leader,” the newspaper said.

    But the conservative Jerusalem Post was more critical. In an editorial, the newspaper argued that official backtracking on Abbas’ comments by the president and the Palestinian Authority showed that mass Palestinian opinion remained opposed to genuine concessions to Israel.

    “Abbas is paying for his own and his leadership’s insistence on saying one thing in public and something else altogether behind closed doors or in an interview aimed at the Israel public,” it said.

    Peace process back at the fore
    Abbas' remarks returned the moribund state of peacemaking to the center of Israeli political discourse. With peace efforts frozen for the past four years, Israeli leaders have been preoccupied with Iran's suspect nuclear program and local economic issues, and the Palestinian issue has not been a major factor in the campaign for Jan. 22 parliamentary elections.

    Complete World coverage on NBCNews.com

    Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak, a former prime minister who has been closely involved in peace efforts over the past two decades, said Palestinians have assured Israeli counterparts that they would be willing to agree to this compromise on the refugee issue.

    "We can't say that we don't have a partner for peacemaking. Abu Mazen has expressed willingness to forfeit the 'right of return' in closed talks, too," Barak said, using Abbas' nickname.

    Ten years ago, New Jersey resident Claire Ginsburg started collecting used teddy bears from people across the U.S. About 130,000 have now made the 5,600-mile journey to a hospital in Israel. NBC News' Paul Goldman reports.

    Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who made a peace proposal to Abbas in 2008, issued a harsh statement accusing Netanyahu of missing a critical opportunity to pursue peace.

    "This policy toward the only partner possible for peace between us and the Palestinians is irresponsible and can damage the most vital Israeli interests," Olmert said. He said the Abbas interview "proves to the Israeli public that there is someone to speak to and things to discuss with the goal of solving this bloody conflict."

    NBC News staff, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

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