JERUSALEM - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu endorsed an independent Palestinian state beside Israel for the first time on Sunday, dramatically reversing himself in the face of U.S. pressure but attaching conditions the Palestinians swiftly rejected.

JERUSALEM — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday vowed never to allow Israeli leaders or soldiers to stand trial on war crimes charges over their actions during last winter's military offensive in the Gaza Strip, furiously denouncing a U.N. report in a keynote address to parliament.

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama will host a meeting Tuesday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in an effort to lay the groundwork for renewed negotiations on Mideast peace.

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama on Monday opened his deepest foray into the Middle East quagmire, telling Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu he must stop Jewish settlements and should grasp a "historic opportunity" to make peace with the Palestinians.

JERUSALEM - Benjamin Netanyahu, taking office as Israel's new leader Tuesday, promised to seek "full peace" with the Arab and Muslim world, but refused to utter the words the world was waiting to hear: "Palestinian state."

JERUSALEM - Benjamin Netanyahu appealed to his moderate rivals Friday to join a unity government - a tricky alliance that would let the hawkish Israeli leader avoid relying on an unstable grouping of right-wingers almost sure to collide with the Obama administration and each other.

JERUSALEM - Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and hard-line rival Benjamin Netanyahu both claimed victory Tuesday in Israel's parliamentary election, but official results showed a race so close it could be decided by a third candidate - a rising power among the hawks.

Well, we have seen 10-plus assorted letters to the editor, columnist's columns and Vents all portraying the president as a victim of a horrendous insult. What a hoot?

JERUSALEM - Israel's election has suddenly become too close to call, though hard-liners are expected to have a clear edge in the horse trading that is sure to follow Tuesday's vote.

 Mitt Romney’s tough talk on foreign policy shows why we should always check the military service records of self-proclaimed superpatriots. Like Dick Cheney, John Bolton, Paul Wolfowitz, Rush Limbaugh and other Republican chicken hawks, Romney was a Vietnam draft dodger, whose five sons have similarly avoided military service.

"When Bibi Netanyahu says he is ‘willing to make painful compromises to achieve' peace with the Palestinians, why is it that the pain is generally felt most directly by the Palestinians?"

"We are extremely happy that Herman Cain has thrown his hat into the ring to run for president. He is the only one that we could vote for and if everyone supports him he can beat out the guy that is taking up space in the White House."