Israeli-Palestinian peace talks

US Secretary of State Colin Powell (left) meets with Prime Minister-elect Ariel Sharon on February 25, 2001. (Shauli Shem-Tov/Flash90)

October 18, 2021, 6:39 pm

Colin Powell dead at 84: An Israel admirer, he pushed for compromises for peace

Former US secretary of state who brokered ‘road map’ to Mideast peace, which still informs much of US policy in region, was also 1st military chief to speak Yiddish as 2nd language

By JTA and TOI staff

Palestinian Ambassador Riyad Mansour addresses the United Nations Security Council, at UN headquarters, January 22, 2019. (AP/Richard Drew)

October 12, 2021, 7:10 pm

Frustrated with US, but reluctant to fight, PA envoy looks elsewhere for help

Ramallah’s man in New York, UN ambassador Riyad Mansour, tells ToI he appreciates what Biden administration has done but recognizes that Washington won’t push Jerusalem into talks

By Jacob Magid

Then-opposition leader Isaac Herzog meets with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, in the West Bank city of Ramallah. on December 1, 2013. (Issam Rimawi/Flash90/File)

September 6, 2021, 8:09 pm

Abbas, Herzog express hopes for upped cooperation in holiday call

PA chief also speaks to Gantz, looks for strengthening of ties in coming year as new government in Jerusalem broadens its contacts with Ramallah

By TOI staff

Jordan’s King Abdullah II (left), Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi (center) and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas attend a trilateral summit in Cairo, on September 2, 2021.

September 5, 2021, 8:36 pm

Sissi calls Herzog for New Year, as Cairo said pushing for new Palestinian talks

Leader hosted Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Jordan’s King Abdullah in Cairo last week, and is expected to welcome PM Naftali Bennett soon

By Amy Spiro

Prime Minister Nafatali Bennett (L) and Defense Minister Benny Gantz at a graduation ceremony for Israeli Air Force pilots at the Hatzerim airbase in southern Israel, June 24, 2021. (Jack Guez/AFP)

September 1, 2021, 1:51 pm

A government with 2 heads: Bennett and Gantz lead coordinated, opposing policies

PM has distanced himself from defense minister’s meeting with PA chief, but they seem okay with each taking a different approach to satisfy coalition’s rightist and leftist bases

By Shalom Yerushalmi

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, right, meets with then-Zionist Union leader Isaac Herzog in Ramallah on August 18, 2015. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser/File)

July 11, 2021, 10:20 pm

PA’s Abbas calls to congratulate Israel’s new president

Isaac Herzog says he hopes to assist in peace efforts; Palestinian leader underlines need for ‘practical steps on the ground’

By Amy Spiro and Aaron Boxerman

Orient House in East Jerusalem, October 14, 2007 (Nati Shohat/Flash90)

July 11, 2021, 4:47 pm

Palestinians said drafting list of demands if limited peace talks resume

PA said seeking resumption of operations in East Jerusalem, ending settlement expansion, restricting police activity on Temple Mount, permission to build international airport

By TOI staff

United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, center, gestures to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, right, and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, left, at a meeting at a hotel in Jerusalem, on February 19, 2007. (Flash90)

June 25, 2021, 5:52 am

‘Abbas never said no’ to 2008 peace deal, says former PM Olmert

Leader who offered Palestinians a state claims that behind closed doors, PA president ‘regrets that he didn’t sign’; adds that Hamas military threat doesn’t worry him

By Lazar Berman

Then-US secretary of state John Kerry is seen at the State Department to mark the resumption of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, on July 29, 2013. (AP/Charles Dharapak)

June 21, 2021, 8:08 pm

US denies asking PA to assemble negotiating team for peace talks

Senior State Department official says premise of recent Israeli report on matter untrue; DC has been adamant that time isn’t right for high level talks on final status issues

By Jacob Magid

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, right, meets with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in the West Bank city of Ramallah, May 25, 2021. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed, Pool)

June 15, 2021, 6:25 pm

Palestinians said to assemble new peace negotiating team at initiative of US

Report says the Biden administration began effort to revive talks before Israel’s new government was sworn in; PA said set to demand expansion of its authority in West Bank

By TOI staff

Illustrative: Israeli soldiers check a Palestinian woman as she waits to cross the Qalandiya checkpoint between the West Bank city of Ramallah and Jerusalem, April 23, 2021. (AP/Majdi Mohammed)

April 27, 2021, 2:05 pm

Human Rights Watch lodges ‘apartheid’ accusation at Israel, which dismisses it

Rights group alleges Israel acts ‘to maintain the domination of Jewish Israelis over Palestinians’ in Israel, West Bank, Gaza; Israel: Preposterous, false claims, by biased group

By AP and TOI staff

View of the Israeli settlement of Ariel, in the West Bank on July 2, 2020. (Sraya Diamant/Flash90)

March 24, 2021, 4:14 pm

Mideast Quartet urges ‘meaningful’ dialogue to reach two-state solution

Convening online, envoys from US, Russia, EU and UN express concern over potential ‘unilateral actions,’ in apparent reference to Israeli settlement expansion

By AFP

Palestinians wave national flags during a protest against normalization of ties between the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain with Israel, in the West Bank city of Ramallah, September 15, 2020. (Majdi Mohammed/AP)

March 23, 2021, 10:30 am

Top Abbas advisers urge Palestinian statehood with ‘soft’ sovereignty

Hussein Agha and Ahmad Samih Khalidi, seasoned negotiators with Israel, propose Jordan and Egypt taking on security roles, and Saudi normalization if settlement expansion ends

By Stuart Winer

From left to right, EU Special Envoy for the Middle East Peace Process Susanna Terstal, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, French Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi and UN special coordinator for the Middle East Tor Wennesland pose for a group photo prior to their meeting in Paris, March 11, 2021. (Ludovic Marin/Pool Photo via AP)

March 11, 2021, 8:00 pm

European, Arab diplomats attempt to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts

Officials say potential ‘small steps’ toward peace may come after Jerusalem and Ramallah hold elections

By AP

Hady Amr, now US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Israeli and Palestinian Affairs, speaks at the Brookings Institute, where he was a fellow, on December 3, 2018. (Screen capture/YouTube)

February 22, 2021, 3:49 am

As Biden puts Mideast on backburner, US point-man on conflict seeks small gains

Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Hady Amr starts job gunning for improvements to Palestinian economy and renewing bilateral ties, but is not giving up on two-state solution

By Jacob Magid