Report on Israeli Settlement in the Occupied Territories

Washington hopes that a tripartite fall meeting of President Barack Obama, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and PLO chairman Mahmoud Abbas will mark the inauguration of a new phase in Obama’s Middle East policy.

The U.S. will be obliged to offer policy proposals to reconcile polarized Israeli and Palestinian views on the issues that must be resolved to define peace and a Palestinian state: borders, settlements, Jerusalem, security and refugees.

American Friends of Ateret Cohanim, a nonprofit organization that sends millions of shekels worth of donations to Israel every year for clearly political purposes, such as buying Arab properties in East Jerusalem, is registered in the United States as an organization that funds educational institutes in Israel.

Israel reports a drop in new construction and sales in West Bank settlements relative to 2008.