Israeli foreign minister: Peace deal impossible now, better to go for interim arrangement

October 9th, 2009 TEL AVIV - Israeli leaders congratulated US President Barack Obama Friday on winning the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize, saying they hoped it would add force to his efforts to push for peace in the Middle East. President Shimon Peres sent a message to Obama, saying "there are few leaders who succeeded in changing the mood in the world in such a short time", it said, Israel Radio reported.

October 8th, 2009 Israeli foreign minister: No chance for peace deal JERUSALEM — Israel's powerful foreign minister declared Thursday that there is no chance of reaching a final accord with the Palestinians any time soon, casting a pall over the U.S. Mideast envoy's latest effort to get peace talks moving again.

October 8th, 2009 Obama envoy in uphill struggle for Mideast peaceJERUSALEM — President Barack Obama's Mideast envoy finds himself increasingly hamstrung, with Israel's foreign minister on Thursday all but ruling out a peace deal for years to come and the Palestinian leader weakened by his decision not to push for a Gaza war crimes tribunal against Israel. Jordan's King Abdullah II added a gloomy warning that prospects for peace are "sliding into darkness." Obama envoy George Mitchell, visiting Israeli and Palestinian leaders for the second time in three weeks, is trying relentlessly to bring the sides together for talks, but the obstacles he faces are daunting.

October 8th, 2009 Israeli foreign minister: No peace deal nowJERUSALEM — Israel's foreign minister declared Thursday that there is no chance of reaching a final accord with the Palestinians any time soon, casting a pall over the U.S. Mideast envoy's latest effort to get peace talks moving again.

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 15th, 2009 Israelis, Palestinians present blueprint for peaceTEL AVIV, Israel — Israeli and Palestinian activists on Tuesdsay presented the most detailed vision yet of what a peace deal between the two sides could look like, aimed at showing that peace is possible despite the long deadlock in negotiations. The plan has no official standing, but has generated interest among Israeli and Palestinian leaders.

September 4th, 2009 WASHINGTON - US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Israel's plan to expand settlements in the West Bank was regretful and "inconsistent" with the international peace plan designed to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. "We regret the reports of Israel's plans to approve additional settlement construction," Clinton said in a statement.

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.

September 2nd, 2009 WASHINGTON - US officials are stepping up pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to cut a deal on curtailing Israeli settlements, and they're holding out a prize that both Netanyahu and President Barack Obama badly want: strong ties between both leaders. Both sides said the US and Israel are near an agreement to halt expansion of Israeli settlements on disputed territory.

August 28th, 2009 Egypt: Israeli freeze must include east JerusalemSTOCKHOLM — Egypt's foreign minister says east Jerusalem must be included in a freeze of Israeli settlement activity before Middle East peace talks can restart. Ahmed Aboul-Gheit told reporters in Stockholm on Friday that Jerusalem is Arab "and it will continue to be so." He said the Arab world expects the area to be included in a moratorium on Israeli settlements.

August 24th, 2009 US says resumption of Mideast peace talks closerWASHINGTON — The State Department says its Mideast peace envoy is getting closer to winning agreement by the Israelis and Palestinians to resume peace talks. Department spokesman Ian Kelly told reporters Monday that scheduled talks Wednesday in London between peace envoy George Mitchell and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will not necessarily produce a breakthrough.

August 5th, 2009 Israel claims control over split villageGHAJAR, Golan Heights — Israel's foreign minister on Wednesday visited an Arab village cut in half by an international border and insisted it will remain under Israeli control. A border drawn by the U.N.

April 30th, 2009 Israel, EU agree to postpone summitJERUSALEM — Israel says the European Union accepted an Israeli request that a high-profile summit be postponed in order to give Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu time to formulate his Mideast peace policy. The delay comes ahead of a trip to Europe next week by Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, whose critical comments about Arabs and the peace process have raised international concerns.

April 26th, 2009 Israel: No preconditions to talks with SyriaJERUSALEM — Israel's foreign minister said Sunday that he was willing to sit down immediately with Syria to talk peace if there would be no preconditions, just days after saying that Damascus was not a partner for peace. Syria recently said it would be willing to resume indirect peace talks with the new Israeli government as long as they focused on a complete withdrawal from the Golan Heights.

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.