Palestine Says Hope in Obama 'Evaporated'

The Palestinian president's political party says all hopes in the Obama administration have "evaporated," accusing the White House of caving to pressure from the pro-Israel lobby and backing off a demand to freeze Jewish settlement. Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah Party also accused the US of failing to set a clear agenda for a new round of Mideast peace talks, according to an internal memo obtained by the AP yesterday.

"All hopes placed in the new US administration and President Obama have evaporated," the document said. Obama "couldn't withstand the pressure of the Zionist lobby, which led to a retreat from his previous positions on halting settlement construction and defining an agenda for the negotiations and peace." The document, dated Oct. 12, comes from an office headed by the party's No. 2, Mohammed Ghneim. (More Palestine stories.)