Auschwitz blueprints highlight Netanyahu’s UN riposte to Iran president’s Holocaust claims

UNITED NATIONS — Waving the blueprints for Auschwitz and invoking the memory of his own family members murdered by the Nazis, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered his most passionate and public riposte yet to Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s questioning of the Holocaust.

Quartet of Mideast peacemakers lauds Obama’s initiative

UNITED NATIONS — The Quartet of Mideast peacemakers says President Barack Obama’s meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas represents an important step toward the resumption of peace talks.

Netanyahu, waving designs of Auschwitz, urges world alliance against Iranian nuclear threat

UNITED NATIONS — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu waved designs of the most infamous Nazi death camp from a U.N. podium on Thursday, exhorting the world to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

Israel seeks bids to build 486 apartments in east Jerusalem over US objections

JERUSALEM — Israel is pushing ahead a long-delayed plan to build hundreds of apartments in disputed east Jerusalem, staking claims to land the Palestinians claim for a future state and complicating already tense relations with the U.S., which has demanded a construction freeze.

Palestinians’ Fatah movement seeks renewal, battles chaos in first convention in 20 years

BETHLEHEM, West Bank — The Palestinians’ Fatah movement came together Tuesday for its first convention in 20 years, trying to rise from division and defeat with a pragmatic political program and new leaders in what its supporters hope will be the final push toward Palestinian statehood.

Israel’s Netanyahu postpones meeting with Obama’s Mideast envoy

ROME — A meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Barack Obama’s special Middle East peace envoy, former Sen. George Mitchell, has been postponed.

UN Security Council calls for comprehensive Mideast peace with a Palestinian state

UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. Security Council sent a strong message to Israel on Monday that the international community is demanding “urgent efforts” to create a separate Palestinian state and achieve an overall Mideast peace settlement.

Pope pledges to remember Jews killed in Holocaust on visit to Israel to improve ties with Jews

JERUSALEM — Pope Benedict XVI says the cries of Holocaust victims continue to reverberate 60 years after the second World War.

Pope calls for Palestinian state upon arrival in Israel, plunging right in to Mideast politics

TEL AVIV, Israel — Pope Benedict XVI has called for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, immediately plunging into Middle East politics upon his arrival in Israel.

Aide: Palestinian president to form new government without Hamas after unity talks

RAMALLAH, West Bank — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas plans to ask his prime minister within the coming week to form a new government without the Gaza Strip’s Hamas rulers, signaling a breakdown in unity talks with the Islamic militant group.

UN pressing Israel to withdraw from southern Lebanon

BEIRUT - The UN is trying to persuade Israel to withdraw its troops from Ghajjar village in southern Lebanon, a Lebanese government source said Tuesday.

US-born academic, media commentator Michael Oren named Israeli ambassador to Washington

JERUSALEM — Michael Oren, a U.S.-born academic who frequently appears as a media commentator on Mideast affairs, has been picked as Israel’s next ambassador to Washington, a government official said Saturday.

Israel’s defense minister says Netanyahu will agree to Palestinian statehood

JERUSALEM — Israel’s defense minister said in an interview published Tuesday that he expects Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to the principle of Palestinian statehood — something the Israeli leader has balked at doing since taking office a month ago.

Israel marks annual Memorial Day for fallen soldiers; leaders warn of threats to nation

JERUSALEM — Israel paused as air raid sirens wailed Monday evening, marking the beginning of the nation’s annual Memorial Day for fallen soldiers, and leaders warned that the Jewish state still faces threats to its existence.

Obama envoy holding first talks with Netanyahu government

JERUSALEM - US special envoy George Mitchell met Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman Thursday morning, holding his first talks in Israel since the new government of hardline Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took office last month.

Clinton confirms US commitment to two-state solution

JERUSALEM - US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton confirmed Tuesday her administration’s commitment to a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Israeli President asks Netanyahu to form new government

JERUSALEM - Israel’s President Shimon Peres tasked Benjamin Netanyahu Friday with forming a new government, ending speculation which had persisted since Israel’s inconclusive general election last week.