Israel–United States relations

Shimon Peres was laid to rest on Sept. 30 in a ceremony attended by dozens of world leaders, including Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas, in a final tribute to former Israeli President and Nobel Peace Laureate Shimon Peres in Jerusalem. 

Israeli ex-president and Nobel Peace Prize winner Shimon Peres died on Sept. 28, some two weeks after suffering a major stroke, triggering an outpouring of grief for the beloved elder statesman.

One of Israel’s defining political figures and a Nobel peace prize laureate died at the age of 93, two weeks after having a stroke. Shimon Peres had twice served as prime minister of Israel and later as the country’s ninth president. He had been seriously ill on a respirator in an Israeli hospital near Tel Aviv and died after his condition deteriorated sharply.

President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an, who went to Washington last week to attend a nuclear summit, received perhaps his warmest welcome from pro-Israel lobby groups as he enjoyed the benefits of the recent rapprochement between Turkey and Israel.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an on Feb. 9 hosted a leading delegation representing influential Jewish lobbying groups in the United States in a sign of Ankara's willingness to normalize bilateral ties with Israel.

Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard was released on parole in the United States on Nov. 20 after 30 years in prison, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, a case that became a serious strain in relations between the close allies. 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has instructed Israeli officials to keep low-key about Friday's scheduled release by the United States of Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard, a cabinet minister said.

The former U.S. Navy analyst's espionage for Israel in the 1980s remains a strain on ties with Washington, and his parole terms dictate that he stay in the United States for five years. 

US Secretary of State John Kerry said on Oct. 18 he would meet the Israeli and Palestinian leaders on separate trips to Germany and the Middle East after days of violence in Israel and the Palestinian territories.

Mahmud Abbas's UN declaration that he is no longer bound by accords with Israel has the potential to upturn what remains of the peace process, but there are doubts whether concrete actions will follow.
 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on July 29 approved the "immediate" construction of 300 settler homes in the occupied West Bank as his government came under pressure from right-wing Jewish groups.