Daybreak: Popping In, Just to Say Hi
Plus Cohen’s feeling up, J’lem’s mayor’s feeling down, and more in the news
April 27, 2010
Oh hey, sup? Obama yesterday.(Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images)
• President Obama “dropped by” a meeting with Defense Minister Ehud Barak in Washington, D.C., to convey his support for Israel’s security. Barak meets Secretaries Clinton and Gates today in the run-up to U.S.-mediated proximity talks next month. [Haaretz]
• Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas also backs the proximity talks and will take the proposal to the Arab League this weekend. [WSJ]
• In an interview, Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat calls the U.S. request for a full settlement freeze “an illegal demand.” [LAT]
• The Israeli millitary killed a Hamas man thought to be responsible for the 2004 death of a border policeman. [NYT]
• The normally sorrowful Roger Cohen feels optimistic about the peace process, thanks to (he says) Obama’s realism, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad’s state-building, and Israeli unease with the status quo. [NYT]
• An IDF investigation just found that soldiers made mistakes in the deaths of four West Bank Palestinians last month. [JTA]
Marc Tracy is a staff writer at The New Republic, and was previously a staff writer at Tablet. He tweets @marcatracy.
