ATFP President Ziad Asali is one of the first contributors to a new blog for the Israel Policy Forum (1). With 99% of Israeli votes counted the Kadima party has a one seat advantage over its main rival, Likud (2), though the composition of the parliament could end up favoring the latter (3) causing concern for the future of peace talks (6) (9). The Palestinian Authority presses the International Criminal Court to investigate allegations of war crimes by Israel (4). The UN signals that they intend to hold Israel accountable for attacks on its facilities in Gaza (5). Israeli and Hamas officials signal that Egyptian-brokered talks regarding a long-term truce will continue, despite uncertainty over the new Israeli government (7).

Oral Testimony of Dr. Ziad J. Asali - February 12, 2009
Speech by Ziad Asali at House Committee on Foreign Affairs - February 12, 2009 - 1:00am



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Arab League cmte to meet on Gaza rebuilding Wed
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)
February 11, 2009 - 1:00am

The Arab League's higher joint action committee will hold an extraordinary meeting here on Wednesday to probe the reconstruction of Gaza Strip after the Israeli aggression. The meeting, to be presided over by the league's Secretary General Amr Moussa, will discuss the contribution of regional organizations to the rebuilding process, Moussa told reporters on Tuesday. The higher joint action committee has been formed by the Arab League Council held at the permanent-delegate level recently.

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UN ‘will hold Israel to account on Gaza’
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Financial Times
by Harvey Morris - February 11, 2009 - 1:00am

Ban Ki-moon, United Nations secretary-general, has signalled that the UN intends to hold Israel to account for attacks on its facilities in Gaza regardless of the outcome of Tuesday’s election. As Israelis voted on Tuesday, Mr Ban announced he had appointed a senior human rights troubleshooter to probe the destruction of UN facilities in Gaza during the 22 days of Israel’s so-called “Operation Cast Lead”.

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After Israel elections, not much is clarified
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Richard Boudreaux - February 11, 2009 - 1:00am

Israel's voters threw the country into political uncertainty Tuesday, apparently giving Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni's centrist party the largest share of seats in parliament but shifting the majority to a collection of right-wing parties hostile to her goal of a peace accord with the Palestinians.

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Palestinians Press for War Crimes Inquiry on Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Marlise Simons - February 11, 2009 - 1:00am

The Palestinian Authority is pressing the International Criminal Court in The Hague to investigate accusations of war crimes committed by Israeli commanders during the recent war in Gaza. The Palestinian minister of justice, Ali Kashan, first raised the issue during a visit to the court’s chief prosecutor late last month, and he and other officials are due back again in The Hague this week, court officials said.

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Israel must meet international obligations: Fayyad
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
February 11, 2009 - 1:00am

The Palestinian Authority said Wednesday the next Israeli government should meet international obligations to continue with peace talks. "Regardless of the form of government that will emerge ... we have the same expectations," Prime Minister of the self-rule Palestinian Authority Salam Fayyad told reporters. "We imagine that the expectations of the international community (toward Israel) will be the same as ours." Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party and Tzipi Livni's centrist Kadima party both claimed victory late on Tuesday night after a tight election result.

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Israel, Hamas eye Gaza truce despite uncertainty
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Adam Entous - February 11, 2009 - 1:00am

Egyptian-brokered talks over a longer-term truce between Israel and Hamas in post-war Gaza will continue despite uncertainty over who will form the next Israeli government, Israeli and Hamas officials said on Wednesday. Hamas leaders have suggested that the growing clout of right-wing Israeli parties could prevent outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert from closing a deal.

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Palestinians gloomy as Israel moves right
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Andrew Hammond, Ali Sawafta - February 11, 2009 - 1:00am

Palestinians reacted gloomily to Israeli election results on Wednesday, as the likelihood rose of a more right-wing government opposed to returning land for a Palestinian state. But the self-rule Palestinian Authority (PA) said the next Israeli cabinet would be obliged to continue peace talks and meet international obligations. "The ascent of the Israeli right does not worry us," President Mahmoud Abbas told Italy's La Repubblica newspaper. "In whatever form, the government, once in power, will ultimately end up with responsibility, pragmatism prevailing."

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The furor over Meshaal’s PLO comments
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
by Ramzy Baroud - February 11, 2009 - 1:00am

When Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal declared the need for a new leadership before a cheering crowd in Doha, Qatar, on Jan. 28, his words generated panic among leaders of the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority (PA) as well as among the traditional Palestinian leadership elites in various Arab capitals. The reaction to Meshaal’s call was more furious than most of the statements issued by the PA and its backers during the 23-day Israeli onslaught against the Gaza Strip which killed and wounded thousands of innocent Gazans.

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