Netanyahu: Iran nuclear draft a `positive first step` ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press October 30, 2009 - 12:00am Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday offered cautious praise of a U.S.-backed, United Nations-drafted deal to curb Iran's contentious nuclear program. Netanyahu called the deal "a positive first step" toward denying Tehran the means to make nuclear weaponry. U.S. President Barack Obama's Middle East envoy George Mitchell held talks Friday with Netanyahu in Jerusalem as part of an intense and ongoing bid to revive broken-off peace negotiations with the Palestinians. » Read more

Palestinian anger over Jerusalem is affecting Abbas ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Avi Issacharoff - October 30, 2009 - 12:00am The pattern repeats itself: A relatively marginal Jewish organization calls upon the public to hold prayers on the Temple Mount to mark Yom Kippur, Sukkot or, as was the case this week, "Rambam Day" (commemorating Rabbi Moses Ben Maimon's visit to the Land of Israel in the 12th century). These announcements win a great deal of attention in the Palestinian and Arab media, of course. » Read more

Abbas: Netanyahu hasn't changed since last stint as PM ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Barak Ravid - October 30, 2009 - 12:00am Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is deeply suspicious of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and is losing faith in his intentions to reach a peace agreement, Israeli officials have told Haaretz. "I know Netanyahu is pragmatic and everyone tells me he has changed," Abbas reportedly told the officials recently. "But I don't see it. I fear it's the same Netanyahu of 1996. How much longer can I still give him credit?" Abbas reportedly said he missed former prime minister Ehud Olmert, with whom he had "almost closed [a deal]." » Read more

Report: Abbas fears violence without change in Israeli tactics ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency October 30, 2009 - 12:00am President Mahmoud Abbas reportedly told Israeli officials that without movement in the peace process, he fears conditions in the region will rapidly deteriorate, the daily newspaper Haaretz reported Friday. Haaretz reported that Abbas feared the “descent into violence,” and noted there was a window of “two to three weeks” in which changes must take place in order to stabilize the area. » Read more

Mitchell to meet with Netanyahu in Jerusalem ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency October 30, 2009 - 12:00am Special US Envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell returned to Jerusalem on Thursday night to attempt a second round of peace talk initiation, the US State Department said. Mitchell's arrival comes two days in advance of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's planned visit; he will meet with Israeli and Palestinian leaders. Officials called Mitchell's trip preparatory, and said he met with Israeli army minister Ehud Barak. » Read more

Plan B for Abbas - Palestinian unity or bust ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Mohammed Assadi, Douglas Hamilton - (Analysis) October 29, 2009 - 12:00am President Mahmoud Abbas has no intention of going down in history as the man who legitimised the permanent and possibly fatal division of the Palestinian independence movement. But he has called an election for January that could be a nail in the coffin of Palestinian unity, assuming his Islamist political rivals in control of the Gaza Strip are serious about their threat to ban the vote on their territory. The outcome of an election held in the West Bank but not in the Gaza Strip would be "worse than the two Koreas", said Zakaria al-Qaq, an expert on national security issues. » Read more

Bashing Human Rights Watch ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Scott MacLeod - (Opinion) October 30, 2009 - 12:00am As a founder of Human Rights Watch, Robert L. Bernstein is a distinguished moral voice. So he stunned the human rights community last week when he leveled a devastating attack on the work of the organization he also chaired for two decades. He accused Human Rights Watch's Middle East division of giving Israel the "brunt" of its criticism while it "ignored" other countries in the region. The powerful denunciation in a New York Times Op-Ed article was swiftly endorsed by other eminent figures, including Nobel Peace laureate Elie Wiesel. » Read more