American

US vice president delivers warm speech at Tel Aviv University, stresses American commitment to Israel's security, accepts PM's explanation that R. Shlomo construction will only start in a few years.

A civil trial in the death of American activist Rachel Corrie by an Israeli military bulldozer opened in Haifa.

The civil case over the death of the American activist Rachel Corrie began in a Haifa court on Wednesday.
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HAIFA, Israel — The family of an American activist who was fatally crushed by an Israeli bulldozer in Gaza accused the Israeli military of whitewashing its investigation into the death Wednesday in opening a civil case against Israel.

In the face of expected Republican gains this year, receiving the support of MoveOn, one of the country's largest progressive advocacy groups, is of particular importance for Democratic candidates. One of only a handful of House incumbents to receive the coveted endorsement by MoveOn's political action committee is Democrat John Hall, who represents the 19th district in upstate New York.

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) -- Israel apologized Wednesday for disrupting the visit of Vice President Joe Biden with its announcement of 1,600 new homes in disputed east Jerusalem, but made clear it had no intention of reversing the order that has cast a shadow over the latest U.S. push for Mideast peace.

As Biden held talks with top Palestinian leaders in the West Bank, Israeli Interior Minister Eli Yishai, whose office announced the new construction on lands Palestinians claim for a future state, said the problem was about timing, not substance.

AIPAC comes to town next week for its massive pro-Israel rally and it is already letting Congress know what it main demand will be. This is from today's JTA, Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

Why would Israeli officials degrade Israel by humiliating the vice president of the United States?

What conceivable advantage is there in the Interior Ministry choosing the occasion of a high-profile visit by Joseph R. Biden, Jr., a mission aimed at soothing strained relations between Israel and the Obama administration, to announce the approval of 1,600 new homes for Israelis in East Jerusalem?

Or to add, in insult to injury, that construction on the new homes could begin as soon as early May.

The relationship between Israel and the United States is a centerpiece of American policy, Vice President Joe Biden said.

Many neoconservatives and the politicians and pundits who love them have abandoned the we've-turned-the-corner-in-Iraq story plot - or the-next-six-months-will-prove-critical-in-Iraq expectation game - a long time ago.