June 18th

Facts on Israeli Settlements
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Daniel Kurtzer - June 18, 2009 - 12:00am

Faulty analysis of the Israeli settlement issue is being passed off as fact. Charles Krauthammer’s column “The Settlements Myth,” which ran June 5 in The Washington Post, is one example. Here are the facts: In 2003, the Israeli government accepted, with some reservations, the “road map” for peace, which imposed two requirements on Israel regarding settlements: “GOI (Government of Israel) immediately dismantles settlement outposts erected since March 2001. Consistent with the Mitchell Report, GOI freezes all settlement activity (including natural growth of settlements).”

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Remarks With Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from United States State Department
June 17, 2009 - 12:00am

SECRETARY CLINTON: Good afternoon. It is my pleasure to welcome Foreign Minister Lieberman to the State Department today for his first official visit to Washington in his new role. Minister Lieberman’s visit gave me the opportunity to reaffirm the United States deep, unshakable friendship and bond with Israel. Our commitment to Israel’s security is and will remain a cornerstone of our foreign policy, and I was pleased to have this chance to express that personally to the foreign minister. The United States has no greater ally in the Middle East and no greater friend than Israel.

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U.S. ups pressure on Israel to end Gaza blockade
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - June 18, 2009 - 12:00am

The United States has stepped up pressure on Israel regarding the Gaza Strip: Three weeks ago it sent Jerusalem a diplomatic note officially protesting Gaza policy and demanding a more liberal opening of the border crossings to facilitate reconstruction. U.S. and Israeli sources say the note was followed by a verbal communication clarifying that the Obama administration thinks Israel's linkage of the case of abducted soldier Gilad Shalit and the opening of the crossings was not constructive.

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June 17th

As the debate over an Israeli settlement freeze continues (5), The Washington Post discusses a 1979 State Department legal opinion, that found the settlements to be “inconsistent with international law” (1). Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s recent policy speech continues to draw varied reactions (3) (8) (10). Israel’s internal security minister apologizes after being recorded using an offensive Arab slur word (4). Quartet envoy Tony Blair says that Israel’s delay in setting up a proper mobile phone network is restricting West Bank development (6). The IDF is set dismantle a crossing near Jericho (9), while a right-wing Israeli group announces its plan to construct 30 new outposts in the West Bank this summer (11). A Haaretz poll finds that 64% of Israelis support a peace based on two states (12).

Haaretz poll: 64 percent of Israelis back two-state solution
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Akiva Eldar - (Analysis) June 17, 2009 - 12:00am

Figures close politically to Benjamin Netanyahu, and even Labor Party leaders, were worried that the prime minister's fear of U.S. President Barack Obama would overcome his terror of the settlers and force the words "settlement freeze" from his mouth. Here is what senior labor figure Social Affairs Minister Isaac Herzog said two weeks ago at a Knesset hearing on the illegal outposts: "There are components that certainly can be authorized or for which a solution can be found through negotiations," adding, "I absolutely believe in the need for natural growth."

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Netanyahu Feels the Heat
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Harold Meyerson - (Opinion) June 17, 2009 - 12:00am

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has at last acknowledged, with caveats, the need to establish a Palestinian state. Actually, Netanyahu's Palestine is primarily caveats, with a dash of state thrown in for appearances' sake. In his speech last Sunday, the prime minister failed to address the continual growth of Israeli settlements on the occupied West Bank, where close to 300,000 Israeli settlers live. The Palestine that Netanyahu envisions must steadily shrink to accommodate the growing number of Israeli settlers in its midst. It would be a collection of barely contiguous cantons.

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America's Vague Praise for Netanyahu
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al-Hayat
by Randa Takieddine - (Opinion) June 17, 2009 - 12:00am

Some believe that the description by US President Barack Obama of Netanyahu’s speech as a step forward is because no one in the West confronts Israel openly. It is the state of Holocaust victims and everyone applauds a bad speech with nothing new in it except the position of Benjamin Netanyahu and his extremist, right-wing government. Others believe that Obama’s description of Netanyahu’s speech as a step forward represents an American welcome that precedes real pressure on Israel to enter negotiations.

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Netanyahu's message is there will be no peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by David Grossman - June 17, 2009 - 12:00am

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech was indeed, as it has been decribed, the speech of our lives. Our bogged-down, hopeless lives.

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Debating, Again, the Founding of Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
by Nathan Guttman - June 17, 2009 - 12:00am

As the Obama administration deepens its outreach to the Muslim and Arab world, it faces the difficult task of countering Holocaust denial without reinforcing an increasingly popular anti-Zionist narrative that ties the legitimacy of the State of Israel to Jewish suffering in Europe. And as discussion of the Holocaust becomes more widespread, so does the argument heard from Tehran to Gaza that while Europeans were responsible for atrocities against Jews, it is the Palestinians who are paying the price.

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Israeli envoy hopeful for solution on settlements
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
by Aron Heller - June 16, 2009 - 12:00am

Israel's incoming ambassador to the United States said Tuesday he was confident that his government will soon reach an agreement with Washington to allow some construction in West Bank settlements. President Barack Obama, seeking to restart Mideast peace talks, has called on Israel to halt all construction on captured lands claimed by the Palestinians. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says existing settlements must be permitted to expand to accommodate natural growth in the populations.

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