May 5th

U.S., Israel Diverge on Palestinian Plan
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Wall Street Journal
by Jay Solomon - May 5, 2009 - 12:00am

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged Monday to pursue "without any delay" a peace process with Palestinians based on a new strategy of addressing political, economic and security issues concurrently. But Mr. Netanyahu's overture came as members of his government voiced skepticism toward President Barack Obama's call for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, particularly when the Palestinian Authority's security forces remain weak and its political leadership divided.

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Addressing U.S., Hamas Says It Grounded Rockets
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Ethan Bronner, Taghreed El-Khodary - May 5, 2009 - 12:00am

The leader of the militant Palestinian group Hamas said Monday that its fighters had stopped firing rockets at Israel for now. He also reached out in a limited way to the Obama administration and others in the West, saying the movement was seeking a state only in the areas Israel won in 1967. “I promise the American administration and the international community that we will be part of the solution, period,” the leader, Khaled Meshal, said during a five-hour interview with The New York Times spread over two days in his home office here in the Syrian capital.

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AIPAC delegates lobby for two-state solution
Media Mention of Ziad Asali In Arab News - May 5, 2009 - 12:00am

WASHINGTON: To thunderous applause, former Republican House leader Newt Gingrich attacked President Barack Obama’s policies in the Middle East, promoted military action against Iran, and assailed diplomatic engagement as weakness at the American Israel Political Action Committee’s (AIPAC) annual conference in Washington. Just before he went on stage late yesterday, Gingrich told The Jerusalem Post that the president’s policy with Israel and Iran was a “fantasy” and that Obama was “endangering Israel” by trying to work toward a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

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May 4th

The Palestinian Authority minister of Agriculture and Social Welfare argues the importance of ending Hamas rule in Gaza (1). UN investigators meet in Geneva ahead of a mission to Israel to assess possible war crimes committed during the Gaza war (3), while Spain announces that it will continue its investigation of a 2002 Israeli bombing on Gaza (9). The Associated Press looks at how Israeli imposed access restrictions on Palestinian police are allowing hideouts for criminals (5). Avigdor Lieberman travels to Europe on his first trip as Israel’s Foreign Minister (6) (7). Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel meets with AIPAC donors and reaffirms the Obama Administration’s commitment to peace based on two states (13).

Israeli-run zones shield West Bank criminals
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
May 4, 2009 - 12:00am

When Nasser Qaout went to investigate strange sounds in his sheep pen late at night, a gang of armed thieves shot him in the leg and made off with half his flock. He and Palestinian police know who the thieves are - and even where they are - but a year and half later, they’re still in their homes about five kilometers (three miles) down the road.

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Israel Faces a Hard Sell in Bid to Shift Policy
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Ethan Bronner - (Analysis) May 3, 2009 - 12:00am

The new government of Israel is seeking to reorient the country’s foreign policy, arguing that to rely purely on the formulas of trading land for peace and promising a Palestinian state fails to grasp what it views as the deeper issues: Muslim rejection of a Jewish state and the rising hegemonic appetite of Iran.

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AIPAC delegates to lobby for two-state solution
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Hilary Leila Krieger - May 4, 2009 - 12:00am

While Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is refusing to explicitly endorse a two-state solution to resolve the Palestinian conflict, participants at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee Policy Conference will this week be urging their elected representatives to press President Barack Obama for precisely that.

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Emanuel: This is Israel's moment of truth
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Yitzhak Benhorin - May 4, 2009 - 12:00am

US President Barack Obama plans to act firmly and decisively in order to reach durable peace, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel said Sunday night in a closed forum attended by 300 of the biggest donors of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). The event was held as part of the pro-Israel's lobby annual conference in Washington.

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The Dangers of the US Submission to the Accomplished Fact with Iran and Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al-Hayat
by Raghida Dergham - (Opinion) May 1, 2009 - 12:00am

'Reassurance' could be the title of the current phase of Barack Obama's administration, in anticipation of what strategies it will disclose for the Middle East region, including Iran, Israel, and Pakistan, as well as Iraq, Palestine, and Lebanon.

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Mr Lieberman, eyeless in Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
(Editorial) May 4, 2009 - 12:00am

Chutzpah is a Yiddish word that means shameless audacity. Soon, it may have a synonym: to do a Lieberman. Avigdor Lieberman, the right-wing caricature who is foreign minister in the cabinet of Benjamin Netanyahu, is taking his first steps on the international stage with trips to Italy, France, the UK and the Czech Republic, and he is making waves even before landing on European soil. According to one of his senior officials, Europe is in danger of making itself irrelevant and losing its seat at the peace process table if its criticism of Israeli policies continues.

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