Israel will not heed President Barack Obama’s powerful appeal to halt all settlement activity on lands the Palestinians claim for a future state, officials said Friday, a position that looks sure to cause a policy clash with its most important ally. The government plans to allow construction inside existing West Bank settlements to accommodate for growing families, said the officials. In... 

Prodding the international community, President Barack Obama called Friday “for all of us to redouble our efforts” toward separate Israeli and Palestinian states. “The moment is now for us to act,” he declared. Alongside German Chancellor Angela Merkel one day after his trip to the Middle East, Obama said: “The United States can’t force peace upon the parties.”...