Russian President Vladimir Putin tried to use his meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the Kremlin today to ease the strained relations between the Palestinians and the Trump administration, which were frozen by the Palestinians after Trump's Jerusalem announcement two months ago.
Before the meeting Putin called Trump and spoke to him about the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and about the crisis between the U.S. and the Palestinians. At the top of the meeting with Abbas, in front of the TV cameras, Putin revealed he had spoken to Trump and told Abbas the U.S. president "conveyed his best wishes".
The Trump administration was stunned today to hear Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's statements about discussions he claimed to have had with the White House on annexation of the Jewish settlements in the West Bank.
The bottom line: Israeli and U.S. officials told me senior Trump administration officials were unhappy, fearing the claim could derail Secretary of State Tillerson's trip to the Middle East, and gave Netanyahu and his advisers a clear demand to backtrack. The U.S. and Israeli governments had moved in lockstep on the Palestinian issue since Trump took office, until now.
Israel is backtracking on Prime Minister Netanyahu's statement that he has been discussing the possibility of annexing the Jewish settlements in the West Bank with the Trump administration. After we reported on that claim, a U.S. official told me the U.S. hasn't received or agreed to any such proposals.
Between the lines: This is the first time since Trump went into the Oval Office that there is any daylight between his administration and the Netanyahu government on the Palestinian issue.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told lawmakers at a Likud faction meeting at the Knesset on Monday that he has been discussing with the Trump administration "for some time now" the possibility of annexing the Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Why it matters: This statement by Netanyahu is nothing short of dramatic. This is the first time Netanyahu has sounded support for annexation of the settlements in more than 10 years as prime minister. Israel annexed occupied East Jerusalem in 1980 and then annexed the occupied Golan Heights in 1981. Israel has refrained from annexing parts of the occupied West Bank, fearing international reaction, mainly from the U.S.
The first few days of the Olympic games have been marked by overwhelmingly positive media coverage of North Korea — namely of Kim Jong-un's sister, Kim Yo-jong.
Why it matters: North Korea is the least free country in the world, with its authoritarian regime subjecting citizens to brutal and inhumane laws. And Kim Yo-jong heads the "Propaganda and Agitation Department" of that regime.
