Abbas seeks India's role in peace process as PM Modi visits Palestine.
'The heart of the matter is that India is not Israel.'
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has clinched an 11th-hour deal with a right-wing party to form a hardline coalition government that could pose a major challenge to any global initiative to break the logjam in peace talks with the Palestinians.
"The US will not be told by any country where we can put our embassy... Today, for the simple act of deciding where to put our embassy, the United States was forced to defend its sovereignty. The record will reflect that we did so proudly," said the US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley.
In a break from protocol, Netanyahu received Modi at the Ben-Gurion International Airport.
Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party has claimed a stunning victory in the election.
Israelis began voting on Tuesday in a general election following a high-pitched campaign
He said India can have a possible role in creating a multilateral forum of negotiations between the Palestinians and Israelis.
Obama has said that he shares a business-like relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
But he politely asked the Israeli head of the government to 'hold back' on settlements in territory claimed by the Palestinians for their future state: 'for a little bit'.
Pakistan and Israel will define the relationship between the Modi government and the Middle East. While the region is concerned that India-Pakistan relations may become prickly in the Modi regime, it is also worried that the BJP government will give greater weightage to its ties with Israel.
He was merely responding to the changing currents in the region, which, unfortunately, are not favourable to the Palestinians, says P R Kumaraswamy.
The Geneva agreement is a signal, which at least Saudi Arabia and Israel are so reading, that normalisation of relations between US and Iran is not merely about the nuclear fuel cycle, says K C Singh.
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