Netanyahu Casts Doubt on Support for Palestinian State

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party released a statement on Sunday saying that a 2009 speech the premier had delivered, which expressed support for a Palestinian state, was “simply not relevant” any longer. Netanyahu’s office issued another statement late Sunday night denying that the prime minister had renounced his previous tentative support for a ...

netanyahu-congress-crop
netanyahu-congress-crop

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party released a statement on Sunday saying that a 2009 speech the premier had delivered, which expressed support for a Palestinian state, was "simply not relevant" any longer. Netanyahu’s office issued another statement late Sunday night denying that the prime minister had renounced his previous tentative support for a two-state solution.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party released a statement on Sunday saying that a 2009 speech the premier had delivered, which expressed support for a Palestinian state, was “simply not relevant” any longer. Netanyahu’s office issued another statement late Sunday night denying that the prime minister had renounced his previous tentative support for a two-state solution.

The seeming discrepancy between the two statements comes in advance of Israel’s March 17 elections, in which Netanyahu is trying to bolster his support from right-wing voters. The prime minister was criticized by right-wing figures last week when an Israeli media report alleged that his envoy in talks with the Palestinians had agreed to negotiate based on the lines that existed prior to the 1967 war.

 

Iraqi Forces Advance Near Tikrit

Iraqi security forces and allied Shiite militias have made progress in their effort to retake Tikrit from the Islamic State, driving their enemies from key areas near the city. Pro-government forces entered the village of Abu Ajeel, east of Tikrit, and also made progress in securing Dawr, which lies south of the city. However, Iraqi forces have so far been unable to enter Tikrit itself after over a week of fighting.

Headlines

  • Canadian and Iraqi Kurdish officials offered conflicting accounts of the circumstances that led to the death of a Canadian special forces soldier in northern Iraq.
  • Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staffs Gen. Martin Dempsey traveled to Baghdad to discuss the ongoing offensive in Tikrit.
  • Islamic State fighters continued their campaign against Iraq’s cultural heritage, looting and destroying the ancient city of Hatra.
  • Unidentified gunmen killed more than 12 Islamic State fighters in eastern Syria.
  • President Barack Obama said that the United States was prepared to “walk away” from nuclear talks with Iran if an acceptable deal was not offered.

-David Kenner

MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images

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