Israel Matzav: 'It's the 'Palestinians' fault there are no negotiations' says.... Steny Hoyer

'It's the 'Palestinians' fault there are no negotiations' says.... Steny Hoyer

Earlier this week, I blogged an article that argued that Congress is in the process of reining in what it sees as President Obama's excess pressure on Israel. The arguments in favor of Congress reining Obama in were 71 Senators signing on to the Bayh-Resch letter urging President Obama to pressure Arab countries to make confidence building gestures to Israel and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md) (pictured with Shimon Peres) telling the Jerusalem Post that 'east' Jerusalem is different from the 'West Bank.'

Now, there is another data point and it comes from Hoyer again. Hoyer told reporters in Jerusalem on Thursday that it's the 'Palestinians' fault that there are no negotiations between the 'Palestinians' and Israel.

"I think the largest thing impeding the negotiations at this point is simply the unwillingness of (Palestinian president Mahmud) Abbas to sit down (with the Israelis)," House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told reporters in Jerusalem.

Abbas has refused to meet with Israel's new right-leaning government until the Jewish state ceases all settlement construction in the occupied West Bank in line with repeated demands from the White House.

Hoyer however said the issue of settlements should be addressed through direct negotiations and said if he had met Abbas during his delegation's week-long visit to the region, he would have asked him to drop "preconditions."

Read All at :

Israel Matzav: 'It's the 'Palestinians' fault there are no negotiations' says.... Steny Hoyer