Israel has dismissed a blunt US call for a halt to all Jewish settlement building on occupied Palestinian land, the latest sign Washington is hardening its tone towards its close ally. “Normal life” will be allowed in settlements in the occupied West Bank, government spokesman Mark Regev said, using a euphemism for continuing construction to accommodate population growth … His comments marked an effective rebuff to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s declaration that President Barack Obama wants a stop to all settlement activity as he pushes for the revival of stalled peace talks. 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday said Israel will continue to expand settlements in the occupied West Bank despite calls by main ally the United States to stop. Earlier on Sunday ultra nationalist Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman ruled out a return to Israel’s pre 1967 borders. The international community considers all Israeli settlements in the West Bank to be illegal. 

… No doubt Netanyahu asked for permission to attack Iran, or — at the very least — to threaten such an attack. The answer was a flat No. Obama is resolved to prevent an Israeli attack. He has warned the Israeli government unequivocally. Just to make sure that the message has been properly absorbed, he sent the CIA chief to Israel to deliver the message personally to every Israeli leader. The Israeli plan for a military attack on Iran has been taken off the table — if it was ever lying there … To do this, he must be ready to take on the powerful Israeli lobby. It seems that he is ready for that.