TPMDC Mahmoud Abbas
Israel
Palestinian Ad Uses Clip Of President Obama
President Barack Obama (D)
Palestinian officials are putting President Obama front and center in their new campaign to rally support for a UN vote on statehood -- whether he likes it or not.
Reuters reports that a new radio spot features a clip of Obama addressing the UN and expressing optimism that negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority might yield results. "When we come back here next year, we can have an agreement that can lead to a new member of the United Nations, an independent, sovereign state of Palestine living in peace with Israel," he says.
"If he said it, he must have meant it," Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas responds in the ad.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Barack Obama, Israel, Mahmoud Abbas, United Nations
Roundup
TPMDC Morning Roundup
Israel, Palestinians Set For Face-To-Face Talk
Reuters reports: "With a diplomatic push from President Barack Obama, Israeli and Palestinian leaders start direct peace talks on Thursday overshadowed by skepticism on all sides and violence in the volatile West Bank. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will meet at the State Department, relaunching talks after a 20-month hiatus and seeking a deal within one year that will set up an independent Palestinian state side-by-side with a secure Israel."
Obama's Day Ahead
President Obama will meet with his national security team at 11:30 a.m. ET. He will receive the economic daily briefing at 1 p.m. ET. He does not have any public events scheduled for today.
Topics: 2010 elections, AK-SEN, Afghanistan, Barack Obama, Benjamin Netanyahu, Christina Romer, Israel, Israel/Palestine, Joe Miller, Lisa Murkowski, Mahmoud Abbas, Robert Gates, Roundup, Scott McAdams
Roundup
TPMDC Morning Roundup
Obama Opens Long-Shot Talks On Mideast Peace
The Associated Press reports: "President Barack Obama is opening a new round of Mideast peacemaking, bringing Israeli and Palestinian leaders together Wednesday for talks aimed at forging agreement within one year on a two-state solution: a sovereign Palestine and a secure Israel. Expectations were low as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas arrived Tuesday for preparatory talks with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who has spent months coaxing the parties back to the bargaining table. The talks will be the first face-to-face sessions between the Israelis and Palestinians since December 2008, but the two sides are far apart on all key issues, so major progress in the early going is seen as unlikely."
Obama's Day Ahead
President Obama will participate in a call at 9:15 a.m. ET with FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate, on the preparations being made in advance of Hurricane Earl. At 10:45 a.m. ET, he will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He will meet at 1:30 p.m. ET with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. He will meet at 2:45 p.m. ET with King Abdullah II of Jordan, and he will meet at 4 p.m. ET with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. He will deliver a statement to the press at 5:20 p.m. ET. He and the visiting leaders will deliver statements to the press at 7 p.m. ET, and they will hold a working dinner at 8 p.m. ET.
Topics: 2010 elections, Barack Obama, Benjamin Netanyahu, Iraq, Israel, Israel/Palestine, Joe Biden, Mahmoud Abbas, Nancy Pelosi, Roundup
Roundup
TPMDC Saturday Roundup
Obama: Senate GOP Leaders 'Holding America's Small Businesses Hostage To Politics'
In this weekend's YouTube address, President Obama promoted his administration's program of aid to the auto industry. And he also blasted Republican leaders for filibustering the small business jobs bill.
"It's a bill that includes provision after provision authored by both Democrats and Republicans. But yesterday, the Republican leaders in the Senate once again used parliamentary procedures to block it," said Obama. "Understand, a majority of Senators support the plan. It's just that the Republican leaders in the Senate won't even allow it to come up for a vote. That isn't right. And I'm calling on the Republican leaders in the Senate to stop holding America's small businesses hostage to politics, and allow an up-or-down vote on this small business jobs bill."
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: 2010 elections, Arizona, Barack Obama, Charlie Rangel, Chelsea Clinton, Edwin Kneedler, Immigration, Israel/Palestine, Jobs, Mahmoud Abbas, Mike Johanns, Roundup
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