Chinese New Year Countdown to Fireworks in Hong Kong 2013
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Chinese New Year Countdown to Fireworks in Hong Kong 2013 - Video
China Steals 300 Billion of American Ideas Every Year Costing US Economy 2 1 Million Jobs
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China Steals 300 Billion of American Ideas Every Year Costing US Economy 2 1 Million Jobs - Video
"An occupation that has lasted for almost 50 years must end," White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough told the annual J Street conference Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images hide caption
"An occupation that has lasted for almost 50 years must end," White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough told the annual J Street conference
Through his chief of staff, President Obama is strongly countering rhetoric from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on a two-state, Israeli-Palestinian solution.
"An occupation that has lasted for almost 50 years must end, and the Palestinian people must have the right to live in and govern themselves in their own sovereign state," Denis McDonough, President Obama's chief of staff, said Monday at the annual conference of J Street, a left-leaning pro-Israel group.
He added, "President Obama still firmly believes what he said in Jerusalem two years ago that peace is necessary, just and possible. Peace is necessary because it is the only way to ensure that a secure state of Israel is both Jewish and democratic. Israel cannot maintain military control of another people indefinitely. That's the truth."
It's not the first time the word "occupation" has been used by an Obama official. In fact, in 2013, President Obama used it himself.
"The Palestinian people deserve an end to occupation and the daily indignities that come with it," Obama said in Ramallah during a joint appearance with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
McDonough's remarks continued the White House's pushback against Netanyahu's comments before his re-election that a two-state solution was off the table. Netanyahu has since walked back the remarks.
"Over the course of President Obama's administration," McDonough said, "most recently with the tireless efforts of Secretary Kerry, the United States has expended tremendous energy in pursuit of this goal. That is why the prime minister's comments on the eve of the election in which he first intimated and then made very clear in response to a follow-up question that a Palestinian state will not be established while he is prime minister were so troubling."
McDonough said the Obama administration will continue to oppose Israeli settlement expansion because "it undermines the prospects for peace."
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Obama Chief Of Staff: Israel's 50-Year 'Occupation' Must End
President Obama is expected to disclose Tuesday if he will withdraw most U.S. troops from Afghanistan on schedule this year, or keep 9,800 troops and thousands of contractors there through 2016, when the president insists America's longest war should finally end.
White House officials hinted strongly that Obama will push back the deadlines for the U.S. withdrawal after he meets with the new Afghan president, Ashraf Ghani, who is making his first official visit to Washington since he was elected last September.
Ghani is pressing Washington to keep the full U.S. military force there through next year, and longer if possible, to support Afghan security forces fighting a resurgent Taliban insurgency. Ghani also is seeking long-term finanical aid.
Our partnership with the United States is foundational because we will be the first line of defense for freedom globally, Ghani said Monday at the Pentagon after meeting with Defense Secretary Ashton Carter.
Obama administration plans call for cutting the U.S. force in Afghanistan to about 5,500 troops by the end of this year, and to an embassy-based force of about 1,000 by the time Obama leaves office in early 2017.
White House officials say they don't expect Obama to shift that final goal, but it's likely he will slow the planned withdrawal this year and leave most U.S. troops for another 18 months or so.
Administration officials told reporters in a conference call Friday that the administration wants to be "responsive" on Ghanis request to extend the U.S. military presence.
"So absolutely, we expect some discussion about President Ghani's request for flexibility" on the troop drawdown, said Jeff Eggers, a senior advisor on Afghanistan and Pakistan in the National Security Council.
The White House sees Ghani as a welcome change after years of fractious, icy relations with Hamid Karzai, the former Afghan president, who often was harshly critical of U.S. aims and policies.
Ghani, who spent 15 years in Washington at the World Bank, is more attuned to international norms of diplomacy. He is seen as a financial technocrat more than a politician, and his coalition government emerged only with help from Secretary of State John Kerry.
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Obama expected to slow troop pullout in Afghanistan
Members of the Obama White House are alleging that Israel has not only been spying on nuclear negotiations with Iran but has been using the information gleaned to undermine the efforts of the United States.
The already strained relationship between the White House and the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took a nosedive after the Israeli leader spoke to Congress on Iran, a move the White House felt was designed to undermine the president's efforts. Then, during campaigning for elections last week that will almost certainly see Mr. Netanyahu lead Israel's next coalition, he vowed neverto allow a Palestinian state to emerge on his watch undermining the premise of the so-called Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
Obama's frustration can now be seen in a greater willingness to place stories critical of Israel in the press.
Unnamed White House officials, the Wall Street Journal reportedon Monday,say Israeli spies eavesdropped on the Iran nuclear talks as part of an effort to upend moves toward sanctions relief for Iran in exchange for a reduction in the scope of its program. US officials are most upset by Israels efforts to upset the talks by using the information gained from the spying in Netanyahus speech to Congress earlier this month.
"It is one thing for the US and Israel to spy on each other. It is another thing for Israel to steal US secrets and play them back to US legislators to undermine US diplomacy," an unnamed senior White House official said in the report.
Israel denies the allegations, saying it gained the information through monitoring Iranian leaders and other sources. A senior official in Netanyahu's office called the accusations utterly false.
News of the espionage broke the same day as the White House criticized Netanyahu for his pre-election vow to oppose an independent Palestinian state, a statement he has since tried to walk back.
We cannot simply pretend that those comments were never made, or that they dont raise questions about the prime ministers commitment to achieving peace through direct negotiations, White House chief of staff Denis McDonough told a meeting of American pro-Israel lobbyists.
Relations between the two countries have noticeably cooled over the Iran issue. Netanyahu steadfastly opposes any sanctions concessions to Iran, and instead wants the US to increase the financial pressure. In early March, Netanyahu broke protocol when he accepted a Republican invitation to address Congress without notifying the White House first.
Republican House Speaker John Boehner last week announced that he would lead a group of lawmakers to Israel at the end of March, around the same time as the current deadline for a preliminary agreement between Iran and the world powers negotiating with the Islamic Republic the US, UK, France, Germany, Russia, and China.
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Obama White House accuses Israel of spying to undermine Iran talks