Obama to Visit Israel in Spring

President Barack Obama plans to visit Israel, the West Bank and Jordan this spring, the White House has announced, raising the prospects of a new U.S. push to restart long-stalled Israel-Palestinian peace efforts.
Obama’s trip, his first to Israel since taking office, signaled that he intends to make the volatile Middle East - where Iran remains locked in a nuclear standoff with the West and Syria is caught up in a bloody civil war - a top priority in his second term.

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Next week, on Tuesday, January 22nd, 2013, Israelis will be heading to the polls to cast their ballot. As this Israeli electoral is different than ours here in the United States, we are pleased to share with you this explanatory piece from the Consulate General of Israel in New York.

Netanyahu to US Senators: Priority is Iran

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanya-hu told a group of visiting US Sena-tors during January that if reelect-ed he will work to stop Iran’s illicit nuclear march. “My priority, if I’m elected for a next term as prime minister, will be first to stop Iran from getting nuclear weapons,” he told the group, which included Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY, photo at left). “I think that was and remains the highest priority for both our countries. I appreciate the American support and your support for that end.”

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