Reply #33: Reuters "Obama envoy tells Israel U.S. wants Palestinian state

[Howardx]

"JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Washington's visiting Middle East envoy vowed on Thursday to vigorously pursue the creation of a Palestinian state, setting the stage for possible conflict with Israel's new right-leaning government.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has so far refused to commit Israel to restarting statehood talks and told President Barack Obama's envoy George Mitchell his government wanted the Palestinians to first recognize Israel as a Jewish state.

snip

"Netanyahu's call for the Palestinians to recognize Israel as a Jewish state threw yet another hurdle in the way of U.S. efforts to revive Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking."

quite a bit more here


http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE53F20V20090416