May 13th

Joshua Mitnick looks at the State of Israel on its 60th birthday in the first of a two part story (2) in the Washington Times. Bloodshed continues as a rocket attack wounds Israelis in an Ashkelon mall (3) and several Palestinians are killed during an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip (4). The Associated Press reports that Israel will soon approve more home construction in the West Bank (6). Hamas leader Mahmoud Al-Zahar questions Israeli military supremacy (9).

Obama Advisor: Jerusalem Must Be Included In Peace Talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Anshel Pfeffer - May 13, 2008 - 6:13pm

Daniel Kurtzer, former ambassador to Israel and advisor of U.S. presidential hopeful Barack Obama, said Tuesday that Jerusalem must be included in peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. "It will be impossible to make progress on serious peace talks without putting the future of Jerusalem on the table," Kurtzer said in a conference organized by the Jewish People Policy Planning Institute (JPPPI).

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Right Of Reply: We Simply Support Peace Negotiations
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Seymour D. Reich And Peter A. Joseph - (Opinion) May 13, 2008 - 6:12pm

Isi Leibler does not miss an opportunity to misrepresent the positions or purpose of the Israel Policy Forum (IPF), as he has done once again in his April 29 Candidly Speaking column, "With Friends like These..."

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America's Elusive Search For Arab-israeli Peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Aaron David Miller - (Opinion) May 13, 2008 - 6:11pm

My book The Much Too Promised Land had a very strange origin in that I really never intended to write it. I "resigned" from the State Department in January 2003 because I had concluded - and nothing has changed my mind in the past five years - that the road to Arab-Israeli peace was going to be a long and bumpy one. It had come time for me to take a break after 25 years of providing varying degrees of advice - some good, some bad - to a number of secretaries of state.

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Abbas Is A Viable Peace Partner
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by David Horovitz - May 13, 2008 - 6:10pm

US President George W. Bush said on Monday that he could not envisage the Middle East evolving "without a Palestinian state that's free and democratic." Bush, who flies to Israel on Tuesday, told The Jerusalem Post that he remains convinced that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is a partner for peace. And he went on to say, at a briefing with the Post and three other Israeli journalists in the Oval Office, that he was still convinced that an accord on Palestinian statehood was attainable this year.

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Israel Sets Terms For Gaza Truce
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
May 13, 2008 - 6:08pm

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert asked Egypt’s intelligence chief yesterday to tell Gaza fighters a truce would be conditional upon progress being made toward freeing a captive Israeli soldier. Olmert also asked Omar Suleiman to tell the Palestinian armed factions they would have to stop smuggling arms into Gaza if they want Israel to accept the Egyptian-brokered proposals to halt the violence in the besieged territory.

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The Other Nakba
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-ayyam
May 13, 2008 - 6:08pm

(ATFP Transation by Mike Husseini)

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Tony Blair Unveils Deal To Boost Palestinians
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Times
by David Byers - May 13, 2008 - 6:06pm

ony Blair today unveiled the first fruits of his labours as Middle East peace envoy, outlining an economic deal between Israel and the Palestinians which he claimed would boost the West Bank. The former Prime Minister said that Israel had agreed to remove trade and travel barriers for Palestinians in order to allow the territory to grow economically ahead of a final peace deal between the sides.

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Hamas Rejects Israeli Truce Terms
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bbc News
May 13, 2008 - 6:04pm

Hamas has said that the release of Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier captured in 2006, will not form part of any truce agreement with Israel. Israel has said a ceasefire deal must include the release of the soldier. Cpl Shalit was seized in a cross-border raid two years ago by Palestinian militants, including members of Hamas. Egyptian intelligence chief was in Jerusalem on Monday talking to Israeli officials about a ceasefire offer by the Gaza Strip's militant groups.

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Israel To Relax West Bank Restrictions, Says Blair
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by James. Orr - May 13, 2008 - 6:03pm

Israel has agreed to ease severe travel and trade restrictions on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, the Middle East envoy Tony Blair said today. In an announcement aimed at bolstering forthcoming peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, Blair described the breakthrough as a "significant first step". The news came on the eve of a visit by the US president, George Bush, to Israel to celebrate its 60th anniversary.

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