president, and this is what he said. incite to violence that kills. this is what he said. the israelis have no right to desecrate the mosque with their filthy feet. >> we'll bring you our version of what is being said, rather than stay with that, because we're coming to the engineer of this program. and we'll now do the headlines. ♪ ♪ troop withdrawal from afghanistan delayed a major policy reversal by president obama, as the taliban presents new security threats. a meeting of the minds, european leaders gathering in brussels. in germany ordering the recall

of nearly 2.5 million volkswagen diesel cars, the growing scandal over emissions. ♪ this is al jazeera america live from new york city. i'm del walters. a major reversal from the white house. the president today talking about withdrawing troops from afghanistan. saying the u.s. will now only keep handful of bases open through 2017. he says the decision is vital to maintaining security in the region. just under 10,000 troops will stay on through most of next year. he will cut that number to 5500 troops by the time he leaves office. our national security correspondent jamie mcintyre joins us from the pentagon. and tell us more about the new

strategy and just what prompted this change? >> reporter: well, there is a well-worn phrase here at the pentagon, no plan survives first contact with the enemy. in this case the plan was the president's plan to get all u.s. troops out of afghanistan by the end of his term, leaving just a small force at the embassy, the enemy was a resurgent taliban which was inflicting heavy casualties on afghanistan security forces. the president took the advice of his military commanders and accepted plan that would keep u.s. troops much longer. right now there are about 9800 troops in afghanistan, just under 10,000. they were supposed to be drawn down slowly over the course of 2016. instead most of them will stay for the full year. then in 2017, instead of having just a small force at the

embassy, there will be 5500 u.s. troops remaining. their mission is not changing. they have two missions training equipping and advising afghan security forces, and a small number of u.s. troops with a counter terrorism mission. the president made the point that these troops will not be in a combat role, as they have not been this year, but that does not mean they won't be in some danger, and the president said that he does not make the decision lightly, and he recognized that it meant that some troops that had rotated out of afghanistan and thought they wouldn't be going back may have to go back next year. del? >> jamie americans were war worn when candidate obama campaigned in this 2007, 2008. do americans want to stay in this conflict that much longer? >> reporter: well, the president clearly wanted to end the

mission with his term. and he was asked is this a disappointment to you in he said no. he believes given what is at stake, the risk facing the afghan people that this was the right thing to do. >> i know that many of you have grown we ary of this conflict. as you are well aware, i do not support the idea of endless war, and i have repeatedly argued against marching into open-ended military conflicts that do not serve our core security interests. yet given what is at stake in afghanistan, and the opportunity for a stable and committed ally, that can partner with us in preventing the emergence of future threats, and the fact that we have an international coalition, i'm firmly convinced that we should make this extra effort. in the afghan government, we have a serious partner who wants our help. >> reporter: and that's a distinction that the white house has been making, unlike the

situation in iraq in 2011 when the government of maliki wanted the united states troops to leave. in this case the unity government of afghanistan wants u.s. troops to stay. the big question is will that 5500 really make any difference if they were not able to accomplish the mission of getting those afghan forces advised to the point where they could take over for their own security, if it didn't happen this year, will it happen in the next year, that will be a decision for the next president to make, del. >> jamie mcintyre thank you very much. that draw drown after several attacks by groups like the taliban, al-qaeda, and isil as well. jennifer glass has more. >> reporter: the afghan government requested this troop extension. the afghan ceo had a meeting with american officials while he was in new york a couple of

weeks ago, requesting that the u.s. forces remain at their current levels because of the resurgent taliban fighting happening arrange the country. that happened before kunduz fell to the taliban on september 28th. but the after security forces saying they needed international help. they said the fall wasn't so much about the strength of the taliban, but about the shortcoming of afghan security forces. those forces in the country right now will remain through part of 2016 and then generals here will decide how they will be drawn down to 5500 troops in 2017. it's a big shift for the obama administration, not just in numbers, but also in terms of where those forces will be stationed. they were initially suppo suppose -- onlying a thousand forces were supposed to stay after 2017 based at the u.s.

embassy just behind me. instead they will stay here in kabul, north of kabul, in eastern afghanistan, and kandahar. so the u.s. maintaining a presence around afghanistan through 2017. the afghan officials welcoming this move, saying it will help, not only with any current situation with the taliban, but also with the fight against terrorism. the taliban have been fighting not only in the north, but managed to take control of the main highway between kandahar and kabul this week. they made an attempt to overrun gozny city. that was repelled by afghan security forces. the taliban very much making their presence known, and the fact that american forces will remain here through next year, and -- and beyond, i think will be very much welcomed not only by the afghan government, but by the afghan security forces.

al jazeera's national security contributor, mike lyons says keeping the troops there is the right move. >> i'm returning back to the future of the taliban reinforcing along the border with pakistan. we have got to fix that relationship as well. and then the second aspect is isis, i think they continue to infiltrate places inside of afghanistan and disrupt and be someone that -- a party that's not going to go away any time soon. take both of those forces there, and i think the afghan security forces have their hands full. i think at least for the next 14 to 15 months commanders can plan on getting the afghan security forces through that, evaluate them, measure their effectiveness, but i think they will look over the horizon. the military will wait for the next administration, a new

president can put more troops in afghanistan. so at least the military knows what it is dealing with, knows it is going to be there, and they can plan accordingly. >> lyons says the tipping point for reversing the plan, likely the taliban attack in kunduz. and the top commander general john campbell says the move is quote: the obama administration reportedly close to a deal and looking at a deal to limit the scope of pakistan's nuclear arsenal. several media outlets are saying, talks focus on worrying that pakistan is close to deploying small nuclear weapons.

one of the key architects of the program was caught selling that technology. there is a tense calm right now in israel and the onni onning -- occupied territories. the israeli military is on the streets of major cities trying to prevent other attacks. tel-aviv has nowized restrictions on gun ownership for israelis. >> reporter: there's increasing tension in israel, in some cases hysteria. there were scenes of panic in a mall overnight when the threat was per received of an imminent attack. also on a train that was brought to an emergency stop. also passengers believed that an attack was about to occur. but as the tension rises, so too does the extend of the security

clampdown in occupied east jerusalem. traffic is being funneled through check points established around the perimeters of most neighborhoods. also within this a note of grim humor on social media. there's a picture of a dark-complexed israeli wearing a t-shirt in hebrew that says relax i'm a yemenite. there have been a number of attacks by israelis on fellow jewish israeli citizens, mistaking them for palestinians. this is just a touch of what is happening in both societies, and certainly the way in which people live, the day-to-day life has been utterly altered by the action of a few individuals armed with knives. israeli police also on high alert in tel-aviv this hour after arresting two palestinians they say were planning an attack. e.u. leaders are meeting in

brussels at this hour trying to find a solution to europe's growing refugee crisis. the summit will focus on working with countries outside of europe's borders trying to stem the flow. turkey is a key part of that plan. the e.u. wants to make sure its refugees that it is hosting stay there. neave barker reports. >> reporter: on tuesday the i european commission published a list of requests and requirements it hopes that turkey will fulfill to help reduce the strain on the european union, as what has been described as one of the most challenging tests of unity since the e.u. was formed. in return of 2 billion euros, the european commission really hopes turkey will reduce the so-called push factor, the very reason why refugees continue to head through the country in the direction -- >> that is neave barker

reporting. we want to go back to israel right now. this is israeli prime minister, benjamin netenyahu. he is fielding questions from reporters there on the security situation. again, seven israelis, 32 p palestinians dead in recent days. >> does anyone in his right mind think we would let these killers free? i have yet to hear a condemnation from president abbas for the murder of these next israelis. i condemned it. i went to the hospital to visit -- that young boy, and we're taking care of him. there is an asymmetry here. israel will not tolerate terrorism from anyone. jews or arabs. it doesn't make any difference for us. but in point of fact, there is a

difference because we take an active policy, if we find these murderers, and have the proof, you will hear about it immediately. believe me. you don't need to press me. because i'm doing everything in my power to press our security forces on something that is not easy. it's very hard. sometimes it's hard for us to apprehend palestinian terrorists, sometimes it's hard to find jewish terrorists, but we will. the idea that this is justification for murder -- what would you say if we said, okay, if jews are now murdered as they are, and israelis unleash a wave of attacks, would i condone it? would i even raise it? i wouldn't. i would say this is outrageous. nothing justifies the systemic and deliberate slaughter of the next. the attempt to murder or maim

innocent people, nothing justifies it. it's time that president abbas stops not only justifying for it, but calling for it. he says he wants to see more blood spilled in jerusalem, and it's time for the international community and fair-minded people to make that distinction, stop justifying murder, and stop calling for murder. >> reporter: mr. prime minister this is [ inaudible ] from the bbc. you said you are open to international intervention. we understand that secretary of state john kerry will come here. he is likely to say that you should go back to the negotiating table. what will you say to him if you don't believe negotiations is on the way forward, what is the way out? >> he is going to call on me? are we living on the same planet, liz? i have been calling day in, day out in every forum, in every congress, i haven't done so in

nepal, because i haven't visited, i have called on president abbas to resume unconditional negotiations immediately. right now as we speak, we can meet. i have no problem with that. i think we should stop immediately this wave of incitement against israel and these attacks, murderous attacks against jews. i'm willing to meet him. he is not willing to meet me. and you ask me about the resumption of negotiations? come on, get with the program. these people don't want negotiations and they are inciting for violence. direct your questions to them. and by the way i'm not talking about international intervention, i'm talking about a suggestion that was raised that john kerry and i and king abdull la and i and others would meet, we did that. and it was actually fruitful. >> reporter: [ inaudible ]?

>> that's one possibility. that is fine with me. but president abbas has to stop this incitement. you just saw examples of him -- lies. bare-faced lies. an innocent child executed by israelis. no he's not innocent. and he wasn't executed. he tried to murder innocent people. almost succeeded. that's a lie. you should direct your questions to him. you can't give him a pass. in fact, the international community has been given abbas a pass all of the years, and all of these months and all of these weeks, and all of these days, and when you give somebody pass when they are incites violence, they continue to incite violence. and that violence is picked up by palestinian youngsters and they go out and murder jews, and they murder peace. >> we're going to take a few

questions in hebrew now. i apologize to the english-sp k english-speaking participants. [ speaking hebrew ] >> you are listening to israeli prime minister benjamin netenyahu, a news conference on the growing violence in that country. part of the news conference conducted in english, and part of it conducted in hebrew. we want to go to our washington, d.c. correspondent mike viqueira. mike, you heard the israeli prime minister talking about that visit from secretary of

state john kerry. the table has been set. you set the table for us as to how it is going to be received in washington and just how much tension there is between the united states, between israel, and the palestinians. >> reporter: that's a great jumping off point, del. all throughout all of the difficulties and tension in this relationship that we have seen over the past two or three years, we have heard the administration assure everyone who will listen, time and time again that the u.s.-israeli relationship is strong, that the united states is committed to the peace, welfare, and security of israel. but now john kerry announcing on tuesday night at a speech at harvard, that he was going to quote, unquote, very soon to the region to see what he can do to try to bring people back to the table. the test is going to be whether or not either side will be listening to him at all. whether john kerry can get anything accomplished.

no one needs to be reminded of the source of many of those tensions, beginning with the iran deal, prime minister benjamin netenyahu in his unprecedented and controversial step of addressing the u.s. congress, trying to talk them into voting against the iran deal. prime minister netenyahu on the eve of the election -- it was presumed to be very close in israel, coming out against the two-state solution, a long-held policy of not only the israelis but the united states as well, trying to backtrack from that. prime minister netenyahu himself due here in washington, held up as evidence of the strength of the relationship by the white house, due for a visit to the white house on november 9th. so unclear what secretary kerry can accomplish when he does go to the middle east, and we're awaiting another visit from prime minister netenyahu. >> as we watch him speak it is

clear the animosity between the prime minister and the palestinian leader is testy. does anybody in washington believe there is any possibility of achieving any type of peace between these two sides, because this is exactly the same conversation happening a year ago at this time. >> reporter: the hopes have certainly been dashed. and i don't think what gave you the idea he didn't care for abbas when he said he indulged in bold-faced lies regarding what happened in jerusalem, and said that abbas and [ inaudible ] has been inciting violence. so, yeah, john kerry, of course, no one needs to be reminded of the fact that his efforts to broker a peace deal, based on the 1967 borders tween israel and the west bank, came to

nothing, crashed and burned in a spectacular fashion. no one believes they are going to be started yet again, whether there is a foothold here. the situation appears to be very grim. the crisis is obviously escalating, and unclear what john kerry can do if and when he goes to the region, del. >> mike take you very much. talking about the latest violence in the middle east. again, as far as the numbers are concerned, it is very concerning, seven israelis dead over the last week, 32 palestinians. we're going to take a break. we'll be right back.

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>> "inside story" takes you beyond the headlines, beyond the quick cuts, beyond the soundbites. we're giving you a deeper dive into the stories that are making our world what it is.

♪ there will be no cost of living adjustment next year for millions of social security recipients. it's the third time in 40 years that the benefits are going to stay the same. the reason this time, low gas prices. this will affect the cost of medicare presumes too. 30% will see their premiums rise by 52%. new troubles for volkswagen this morning. germany ordering the company to recall 4.2 million diesel cars. al jazeera's john henry smith has more. >> reporter: volkswagen officials say this new suspect software is in 2016 model year

vehicles. the sames ones the company has pulled from the market. many cars have similar systems, but wv never disclosed its existence to regulators, which all car make rs are expected to do if they want to receive epa certification to sell their cars in the u.s. this is different than the so-called defeat devices, installed on so many of the company's 2009 through 2015 models. those devices has the company facing billions of dollars in fines and lawsuits. the company insists its top executives never signed off on those devices. >> this was a couple of software engineers who put this in for whatever reasons. >> reporter: but the man who would have become the new leader of vw north american operations

has retired before taking the job. the company said, quote frpt vw's ceo martin winterkorn was forced out shortly after the scandal came to light. thanks for joining us. i'm del walters in new york. the news continues next live from london, and a reminder you can get the latest headlines by going to aljazeera.com. stay with us. >> they're consuming economically important species >> we're offering something on our menu that no-one else is offering.

not as strong as they need to be. >> u.s. president says his country will keep troops in after dan stan to help forces battle the taliban. >> good to have you with us. i am david foster, you are watching al jazeera live from london, also coming up, the syrian army, launch as major offensive north of the city of holmes. the e.u. deal that gives