Obama obsessed with hurting Israel

Clinton: US wants Israel settlement halt 'forever'
Buzz up!110 votes Send
Email IM .Share
Delicious Digg Facebook Fark Newsvine Reddit StumbleUpon Technorati Twitter Yahoo! Bookmarks .Print .. Play Video AP – Clinton moderates statement on settlements
. Slideshow:Secretary of State Hillary Clinton .
Play Video Video:Palestinians say Clinton hurt peace talks AP .
Play Video Video:Clinton in Israel to relaunch peace talks AP .
AP – U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton talks during a presser with Egyptian foreign minister Ahmed Aboul …
By ROBERT BURNS, AP National Security Writer Robert Burns, Ap National Security Writer – 1 hr 43 mins ago
CAIRO – Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton defended the U.S. stance toward Israeli settlement building to worried Arab allies on Wednesday, saying Washington does not accept the legitimacy of the West Bank enclaves and wants to see their construction halted "forever."

Still, she said an Israeli offer to restrain — but not halt — construction represents "positive movement forward" toward resuming Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations.

Clinton met for an hour with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak during a hastily arranged stopover in the Egyptian capital to soothe Arab concerns that Washington is backing off demands for an Israeli settlement halt. The fears were sparked on Saturday when Clinton, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at her side in Jerusalem, praised his government's offer as unprecedented.