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Daybreak: Abbas Sets Conditions for Talks

Plus Obama urges Lebanon on arms, and more in the news

by
Marc Tracy
December 15, 2009

• Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas set specific conditions for resuming peace talks: no settlement construction, and recognition of the borders of a future state. In the meantime, he added, he would not permit a return to Intifada-level violence. [JPost]
• At the White House, President Barack Obama asked Lebanese President Michel Sleiman to slow the flow of smuggled arms into his country, saying the weapons violate a U.N. resolution and threaten Israel. [Reuters]
• The situation between the Israeli government and West Bank settlers deteriorated further after Defense Minister Ehud Barak pulled funding for a radical West Bank yeshiva that instructed soldiers not to obey settlement-evacuation orders. [WSJ]
• The Washington Post examines how the current divide, particularly in terms of living conditions, between the West Bank and Gaza could influence the shape and character of an eventual Palestinian state. [WP]
• Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Connecticut) persuaded Democrats to drop several progressive features of their health-care bill, including a Medicare buy-in clause for those 55 and older that he has previously supported, earning the unmitigated ire of many liberals. [NYT]

Marc Tracy is a staff writer at The New Republic, and was previously a staff writer at Tablet. He tweets @marcatracy.