Israel congratulates Obama, hopes prize will boost Mideast peace

October 9th, 2009 LONDON - US President Barack Obama is the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize winner for "his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples", it was announced in Oslo Friday.

October 9th, 2009 US envoy holds Mideast talks as Obama wins NobelJERUSALEM — On the day President Barack Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize, his Mideast envoy was hard at work in Jerusalem on Friday trying to break a deadlock that has so far eluded Washington's efforts to achieve peace among Israelis and Palestinians. Israel's refusal to freeze settlement construction, a Palestinian refusal to resume peace talks without that freeze and widespread predictions of failure overshadowed George Mitchell's meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leaders — underscoring the tough road ahead for the Obama administration's Mideast peace ambitions.

October 9th, 2009 Gibbs wakes up Obama with news of NobelWASHINGTON — The White House says President Barack Obama woke up to the news that he had won the Nobel Peace Prize a little before 6 a.m. Press secretary Robert Gibbs learned from reporters that Obama had won the 2009 prize, and telephoned the White House early Friday to pass along the news to his boss.

October 9th, 2009 OSLO - United States President Barack Obama has been surprisingly given the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009 for his extraordinary efforts in strengthening international diplomacy and for taking landmark initiatives to create a nuclear-free world. Announcing the award here, an official of the Norwegian Nobel Committee said that Obama was yet to be informed about the award, and would receive the award on December 10 this year.

September 25th, 2009 Abbas: settlements block relaunch of peace talksUNITED NATIONS — The Palestinian president tells the U.N. General Assembly that Israel's continued settlement expansion is blocking the resumption of Mideast peace talks.

September 24th, 2009 Israel hails US call for talks without conditionsJERUSALEM — Israel's prime minister welcomed Thursday President Barack Obama's call for the resumption of Mideast peace talks without preconditions despite Palestinian demands for a halt to new Jewish settlements in the West Bank before any new negotiations begin. In the past, Obama had said all Israeli building must stop on lands the Palestinians claim for a future state.

September 23rd, 2009 Obama urges relaunch of Mideast peace negotiationsUNITED NATIONS — President Barack Obama says the time has come to re-launch negotiations toward the long-elusive goal of Mideast peace. In a speech to the U.N.

September 18th, 2009 US envoy in new try to revive Mideast peace talksJERUSALEM — The U.S. Mideast envoy is pressing on with efforts to revive Mideast peace talks and extract Israeli concessions on settlements.

September 3rd, 2009 France: No more settlements, or no Mideast peacePARIS — France's foreign minister says an agreement on freezing Jewish settlements must be reached for international Mideast peace efforts to succeed. Bernard Kouchner and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met Thursday in Paris.

August 4th, 2009 Defense minister: Israel should join US initiativeJERUSALEM — Defense Minister Ehud Barak says Israel should join the U.S. peace initiative for the Middle East when it's ready.

June 26th, 2009 Mideast Quartet urges Israel to halt settlementsTRIESTE, Italy — The Quartet of Mideast negotiators has called on Israel to freeze all settlement activity and to lift its blockade on the Gaza Strip. The Quartet — the United States, Russia, United Nations and European Union — met Friday on the sidelines of a meeting of the Group of Eight foreign ministers, who made a similar call for Mideast peace.

June 14th, 2009 Obama welcomes Netanyahu's two-state speechWASHINGTON — The White House is welcoming Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu's call for the creation of a Palestinian state. Netanyahu said in Jerusalem that he would support a Palestinian state as long it is demilitarized and guarantees Israel's security.

June 5th, 2009 Obama sees 'serious progress' for Mideast peaceDRESDEN, Germany — Trying to defy decades of disappointment in the Middle East, President Barack Obama raised hopes Friday for "serious progress this year" in the elusive search for peace between Israelis and Palestinians. "The moment is now for us to act," Obama declared at a news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

June 4th, 2009 JERUSALEM - Israel said Thursday that it shared US President Barack Obama's hope for peace with the Arab and Muslim world. In an official statement reacting to the landmark speech to the Muslim world Obama made Thursday, the Israeli government expressed its hope "that the important speech of President Obama in Cairo will indeed lead to a new era of reconciliation between Arab and Muslim world".

April 24th, 2009 Israel's FM: Iran is obstacle to Mideast peaceJERUSALEM — Iran is the main obstacle to peace in the Mideast, Israel's new foreign minister said in an interview published Friday. Avigdor Lieberman told The Jerusalem Post that it will be "impossible to resolve any problem in our region" without dealing with Iran's nuclear program and its support for militant groups opposed to Israel, such as Hezbollah and Hamas.