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JERUSALEM (CNN) – The Obama administration moved quickly Tuesday to criticize Israel's approval of a construction plan for hundreds of houses in a disputed neighborhood on Jerusalem's southern outskirts.

"At a time when we are working to re-launch negotiations, these action make it more difficult for our efforts to succeed," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said in a written statement.

"The U.S. also objects to other Israeli practices in Jerusalem related to housing, including the continuing pattern of evictions and demolitions of Palestinian homes. Our position is clear: the status of Jerusalem is a permanent-status issue that must be resolved through negotiations between the parties," Gibbs said.

"Neither party should engage in efforts or take actions that could unilaterally pre-empt, or appear to pre-empt, negotiations."

The Jewish state's Interior Ministry said Tuesday it had approved the construction of 900 units in Gilo. The approval of construction moves forward the process for the project; it will now be opened to public objections.

Final approval will follow several other stages, and construction is likely several years away.

– CNN's Shira Medding contributed to this report.

Clinton tries to put praise of Israel in context.

MARRAKESH, Morocco (CNN) – Two days after Secretary of State Hillary Clinton angered Palestinian leaders by praising Israel for what she called "unprecedented" steps to limit - but not fully halt - the construction of Jewish settlements, she clarified her remarks.

Reading Monday from a prepared statement, Clinton said, "They (the Israelis) will build no new settlements, expropriate no new land, allow no new construction or approvals. And let me just say, this offer falls far short of our position or what our preference would be. But if it is acted upon it will be unprecedented restrictions on settlements and would have a significant effect upon restraining their growth."

For months, the Obama administration has insisted that Israel freeze all new settlement construction. In May, Clinton said President Barack Obama "wants to see a stop to settlements. Not some settlements, not outposts, not natural growth exceptions."

But on Saturday, standing beside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem, Clinton praised him for simply slowing settlement
construction.
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WASHINGTON (CNN) - Israeli and Palestinian negotiators will soon be heading to Washington to discuss the stalled peace process, the U.S. State Department said Tuesday.

The Israeli team is scheduled to arrive on Thursday and the Palestinian negotiators will arrive next week, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said.

The Israeli team will be led by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's advisers Yitzhak Molcho and Mike Hertzog, the prime minister's office said Sunday.

Top U.S. envoy to the region George Mitchell invited both sides to Washington during his weekend discussions with Israeli and Palestinian leaders.

It is unclear who will represent the Palestinian side.

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U.S. Mideast peace envoy George Mitchell, left, meets Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Don't you just love a parade? Apparently the Obama administration does too, as evidenced by the steady stream of top U.S. officials visiting Israel this week. A bevy of heavy hitters are there, the likes of which haven't been seen since the Persian Gulf War.

Just as Defense Secretary Robert Gates wrapped up his meetings there, Mideast peace envoy George Mitchell arrived for talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Mitchell will be followed later this week by national security adviser James Jones and Dennis Ross, the White House's point man on Iran.

Aaron Miller, a former Mideast peace negotiator under President Clinton and author of "The Much Too Promised Land: America's Elusive Search for Arab-Israeli Peace," calls it "the big hug," a show of reassurance to Israel that the U.S.-Israeli relationship remains strong despite the current squabble over settlements.

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President Obama meets Tuesday with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin near Moscow.

MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) - The United States is "absolutely not" giving Israel a green light to attack Iran, U.S. President Barack Obama told CNN Tuesday.

"We have said directly to the Israelis that it is important to try and resolve this in an international setting in a way that does not create major conflict in the Middle East," Obama said, referring to Iran's nuclear ambitions.

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden appeared to leave the door open on Sunday for Israel to attack Iran if it saw fit.

"Israel can determine for itself - it's a sovereign nation - what's in their interest and what they decide to do relative to Iran and anyone else," Biden said on ABC's "This Week."

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–CNN White House Correspondent Ed Henry contributed to this report.

The vice president visited with U.S. troops during his recent visit to Iraq - including with his son, Army Capt. Beau Biden, pictured here with the vice president.

(CNN) - The U.S. government intends to have all its troops out of Iraq by the end of 2011, and it's up to the Iraqis to make that timetable work, Vice President Joe Biden said.

In an interview with ABC News' "This Week" during his trip to Iraq that ended Sunday, Biden said a collapse by Iraq into civil war once U.S. troops depart would be "a tragic outcome."

President Barack Obama remains committed to withdrawing combat troops by the end of August 2010 and all U.S. forces out by the end of 2011, he said.

"That is our intention," Biden said, noting that Iraqi elections scheduled for early 2010 would offer the nation an opportunity for a major step forward.

"It is our expectation that election will come out peacefully," he said.

On another issue, Biden refused to speculate on what the United States would do if Israel decided to attack Iran's nuclear facilities.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that a nuclear-armed Iran would be a threat to the entire world.

(CNN) - Israel and most of the world want regime change in Iran, but the main objective is to prevent the current Iranian leadership from developing a nuclear weapon, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday.

Appearing on the NBC news show "Meet The Press," Netanyahu said a nuclear-armed Iran would destabilize the Middle East and threaten the entire world by triggering an arms race and supplying catastrophic weapons to terrorists.

"The goal is to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons," Netanyahu said, adding that most governments in the Middle East, Europe and elsewhere agreed. "We all don't want to see this regime acquiring nuclear weapons.… It's not merely an interest of Israel."

U.S. President Barack Obama is as committed as his predecessor to preventing Iran from becoming a nuclear power, Netanyahu said.

"It's my view that there's an American commitment to make sure that doesn't happen," he said.
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Former President Jimmy Carter arrives in the Ezbet Abed Rabbo district of Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip.

(CNN) - Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter said Tuesday on a visit to Gaza that he had to "hold back tears" when he saw the destruction caused by the deadly campaign Israel waged against Gaza militants in January.

Carter was wrapping up a visit to the region during which he met representatives of all sides of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Among the sites he visited was the American school that was destroyed by the bombings Israel initiated in response to rocket attacks launched from Gaza into southern Israel.

"It is very distressing to me. I have to hold back tears when I see the deliberate destruction that has been raked against your people. I come to the American school which was educating your children, by my own country.

"I see it's been deliberately destroyed by bombs from F16s made in my country and delivered to the Israelis. I feel partially responsible for this - as (do) most all Americans and Israelis," Carter said at a news conference.

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The White House issued the following statement from Press Secretary Robert Gibbs in response to Sunday's speech by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu:

"The President welcomes the important step forward in Prime Minister Netanyahu's speech. The President is committed to two states, a Jewish state of Israel and an independent Palestine, in the historic homeland of both peoples. He believes this solution can and must ensure both Israel's security and the fulfillment of the Palestinians' legitimate aspirations for a viable state, and he welcomes Prime Minister Netanyahu's endorsement of that goal. The President will continue working with all parties – Israel, the Palestinian Authority, Arab states, and our Quartet partners – to see that they fulfill their obligations and responsibilities necessary to achieve a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and a comprehensive regional peace."

Related: Israel PM calls for demilitarized Palestinian state

"America's strong bonds with Israel are well known. This bond is unbreakable. It is based upon cultural and historical ties, and the recognition that the aspiration for a Jewish homeland is rooted in a tragic history that cannot be denied.

"On the other hand, it is also undeniable that the Palestinian people - Muslims and Christians - have suffered in pursuit of a homeland. ... They endure the daily humiliations - large and small - that come with occupation. So let there be no doubt: The situation for the Palestinian people is intolerable. And America will not turn our backs on the legitimate Palestinian aspiration for dignity, opportunity and a state of their own.

"Palestinians must abandon violence. Resistance through violence and killing is wrong and it does not succeed. For centuries, black people in America suffered the lash of the whip as slaves and the humiliation of segregation. But it was not violence that won full and equal rights. It was a peaceful and determined insistence upon the ideals at the center of America's founding.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - U.S. President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday held their first face-to-face meeting since each took power, confronting a range of potentially divisive issues.

At a pivotal moment in the Middle East peace process, the two leaders met at the White House to discuss, among other things, the endorsement of a two-state Palestinian solution and relations with Syria and Iran.

The issue of Iran's nuclear ambitions has becoming an increasingly urgent issue in recent months. Netanyahu wants a time limit for negotiations relating to such ambitions, with the threat of military action if no resolution is reached. Obama is seen as unlikely to provide a timetable.

Both Israel and the United States believe that Iran is seeking nuclear weapons under the guise of a civilian nuclear energy program; Tehran denies the accusation. Israeli leaders have pointed to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's calls for the end of Israel as a Jewish state, and argue that quick action is needed.

Speaking at an Oval Office news conference, Obama again refused to commit to an "artificial deadline" for Iranian negotiations. But he also warned that he would not allow talks to be used as an excuse for delay while Iran develops a nuclear arsenal.

"I firmly believe it is in Iran's interest not to develop nuclear weapons, because it would trigger a nuclear arms race in the Middle East and be profoundly destabilizing in all sorts of ways," Obama said.

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WASHINGTON (CNN) - Federal prosecutors have asked that espionage charges be dropped against two former pro-Israel lobbyists.

The acting U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Dana Boente, said he filed a motion to dismiss the charges against Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman because of a court ruling that would have allowed the defense to use more classified information at trial than the government had wanted.

"When this indictment was brought, the government believed it could prove this case beyond a reasonable doubt," Boente said in a written statement. "Given the diminished likelihood the government will prevail at trial under the additional intent requirements imposed by the court and the inevitable disclosure of classified information that would occur at any trial in this matter, we have asked the court to dismiss the indictment."

Rosen and Weissman, former lobbyists for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, had been accused of receiving classified material and passing it on to Israeli officials.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - President Obama said Tuesday that Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's recent characterization of the Israeli government as "racist" was part of a disappointing pattern that threatens to undermine the prospect of warmer relations between Washington and Tehran.

"Sadly, [that kind of] rhetoric is not new," Obama said during a White House meeting with Jordan's King Abdullah.

"This is the kind of rhetoric that we've come to expect from President Ahmadinejad. ... Many of the statements that [he has] made, particularly those directed at Israel, [are] appalling and objectionable."

Obama said that Ahmadinejad's remarks were harmful "not just with respect to the possibility of U.S.-Iranian relations, but [to] Iran's position in the world."

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U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton attends Gaza donors conference in Egypt on Monday.

(CNN) - The United States has offered more than $900 million to help the Palestinian people, particularly those in Gaza, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced Monday.

"Only by acting now can we turn this crisis into an opportunity that moves us closer to our shared goals," Clinton said at a Gaza donors conference hosted by Egypt in the Red Sea resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh.

"By providing humanitarian assistance to Gaza, we also aim to foster conditions in which a Palestinian state can be fully realized."

She said the U.S. aid package - which must be approved by Congress - has been "designed in coordination with the Palestinian Authority" to make sure the money "does not end up in the wrong hands."

Clinton was referring to the Hamas leadership of Gaza, which the United States has designated a terrorist organization. The Palestinian Authority, based in the West Bank, is led by President Mahmoud Abbas, whose Fatah party is a bitter rival of Hamas.

President Obama has not ruled out talks with Hamas but said the group must first renounce violence, recognize Israel, and abide by previous agreements that successive Palestinian governments have reached with the Israelis.

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Nasrallah says Bush administration worked with its Arab allies to change the realities in Gaza.

BEIRUT, Lebanon (CNN) - Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said the administration of former President George W. Bush worked with its Arab allies to try and change the "realities" in Gaza before Barack Obama took office.

In a wide-ranging speech on Thursday marking "Freedom Day" - a celebration of the release of Hezbollah prisoners from Israeli custody - Nasrallah said the Bush administration worked with its Arab allies "in order to take advantage of the short time of Bush's term and before (Barack) Obama takes office in order to change the realities" in Gaza.

There were no U.S. forces involved in the 22-day Israeli military operation in Gaza; the United States is a key supporter of Israel.

Israel launched the operation on December 27 with the stated aim of ending rocket attacks on southern Israel. Last week, both Israel and Gaza's Hamas leadership agreed to a temporary cease-fire that took effect after Israeli forces withdrew from the Palestinian territory.

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(CNN) - Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden has apparently released a new audio message calling for a jihad, or holy war, against Israel for its Gaza campaign.

The message is "an invitation" from bin Laden to take part in "jihad to stop the aggression against Gaza."

The audio message was posted on a radical Islamist Web site known for posting statements from bin Laden.

CNN could not independently confirm the authenticity of the message, but the speaker's voice was similar to recordings that bin Laden has made in the past.

The last time bin Laden released an audio message was in mid-May, timed to coincide with Israel's 60th anniversary. That message urged his followers to liberate Palestine.

Israel launched a military offensive in Gaza on December 27 to stop rocket strikes on southern Israel. The death toll in Gaza was nearing 1,000, including more than 300 children, according to Palestinian medical sources.

The Israeli toll stood at 13, including three civilians.

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Vice President-elect Biden is meeting with Iraqi officials during a congressional trip overseas.

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) - BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) - U.S. Vice President-elect Joe Biden continued his visit to war-ravaged Iraq on Tuesday, but got an earful from one of his counterparts about another regional conflict - the war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas.

Tariq al-Hashimi, one of Iraq's two vice presidents, raised concern over President-elect Barack Obama's "silence" about Israel's military action in Gaza.

"The new administration's reputation is on the line because of President-elect Obama's silence," al-Hashimi said in a statement issued by his office. "This after his stance following the Mumbai events."

Obama issued a strong condemnation of the attacks in the Indian city of Mumbai in November.

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Managing tensions in the Middle East is one of President-elect Obama's top 5 challenges as the next commander-in-chief.

(CNN) – As President-elect Barack Obama prepares to assume power, CNN’s American Morning is taking a closer look at some of the top challenges he will face in office.

Watch: Middle East to challenge Obama

Watch Gen. Richard Myers, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Gary Bernsten, author and former CIA officer; Prof. Reza Aslan, author and Middle East analyst; and Christiane Amanpour, CNN Chief International Correspondent as they discuss the challenges Obama will face in dealing with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Middle East, and the issue of violent extremism globally.

Obama says the Israel-Gaza conflict has led him to ramp up peace negotiations in the Middle East.

(CNN) - President-elect Barack Obama said Sunday the suffering on both sides of Gaza's borders has led him to ramp up his commitment to working for a peace deal in the Middle East.

"When you see civilians, whether Palestinian or Israeli, harmed, under hardship, it's heartbreaking. And obviously what that does is it makes me much
more determined to try to break a deadlock that has gone on for decades now," he told ABC's "This Week."

Rejecting criticism for being relatively quiet on the violence in Gaza, Obama said he believes "the principle of one president at a time has to hold is when it comes to foreign policy. We cannot have two administrations at the same time simultaneously sending signals in a volatile situation.

"But what I am doing right now is putting together the team so that on January 20th, starting on day one, we have the best possible people who are going to be immediately engaged in the Middle East peace process as a whole, that are going to be engaging with all of the actors there, that will work to create a strategic approach that ensures that both Israelis and Palestinians can meet their aspirations," he said.

Asked whether he will be building on President Bush's policy toward the region or offering "a clean break," Obama responded: "I think that if you look
not just at the Bush administration, but also what happened under the Clinton administration, you are seeing the general outlines of an approach. And I think
that players in the region understand the compromises that are going to need to be made."

Dealing with Iran, Obama said, will be "one of our biggest challenges ... Not only is Iran exporting terrorism through Hamas, through Hezbollah, but they are pursuing a nuclear weapon that could potentially trigger a nuclear arms race in the Middle East."

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Smoke rises in Gaza City after an Israeli airstrike Thursday.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - The U.S. House of Representatives will vote Friday on a resolution "recognizing Israel's right to defend itself against attacks from Gaza," Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced Thursday.

Introduced by Pelosi and House Minority Leader John Boehner, the nonbinding vote would come on the 14th day of an air and ground assault on the Palestinian territory. Israel says it is aimed at halting the firing of rockets into Israel by Hamas militants.

The resolution's language condemns Hamas, which Israel and the United States consider a terrorist organization, for the rocket attacks and "for deliberately embedding its fighters, leaders and weapons in private homes, schools, mosques, hospitals and otherwise using Palestinian civilians as human shields."

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