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Why Obama Should Keep the Heat on Israel ...
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Time by Peter Beinart - (Opinion) June 12, 2009 - 12:00am The big question about Barack Obama has always been this: Is he a risk taker? Domestically, he answered it months ago with his massive stimulus package. On foreign policy, we only just learned the answer. By taking on the Israeli government over the issue of settlement growth, Obama is showing that he's a gambler overseas as well. Despite the conventional wisdom that an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal is impossible anytime soon, he seems hell-bent on pursuing one. And if he breaks china in the process, so be it. |
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Obama's resolve on Mideast facing a history of blunt reality
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Richard Boudreaux - June 12, 2009 - 12:00am Infuriated by pressure from Washington, Israel's prime minister summoned the American ambassador. "You have no moral right to preach to us," he lectured the envoy. "What kind of talk is this, 'punishing Israel'? Are we a vassal state of yours? Are we a banana republic?" That scolding was 28 years ago, but it echoes as a cautionary tale. |
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Can Bibi and Obama make it work?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) by Ami Eden - (Analysis) June 9, 2009 - 12:00am Those rushing to declare the fix-up between President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a flop after just one date should remember that a good relationship takes time. It’s been less than five months since Obama’s inauguration, and Netanyahu has been on the job for only two months. |
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Netanyahu meets MKs ahead of Sunday's policy address
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post June 12, 2009 - 12:00am Ahead of a foreign policy speech Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is expected to deliver Sunday, where he will outline his vision for the future of Israel and the region, the prime minister met coalition partners for discussions. |
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PM feels he can go left, keep coalition
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Gil Hoffman - June 11, 2009 - 12:00am Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu does not believe that any of the parties in his coalition would leave at this stage if his diplomatic policies shifted leftward in Sunday's address at Bar-Ilan University's Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies, sources close to Netanyahu said Thursday. A look at the pressures Netanyahu is facing ahead of his policy speech on Sunday |
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Civil fights: It's the reciprocity, stupid
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Evelyn Gordon - (Opinion) June 11, 2009 - 12:00am Many people are understandably puzzled by the refusal to freeze settlement construction. Binyamin Netanyahu has offered no explanation and, at first glance, it seems utterly illogical. Why would Israel court confrontation with its only ally merely to increase the almost 300,000 settlers by, at most, another few thousand? |
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Palestinian FM: We'll have majority in 20 years
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Ali Waked - June 11, 2009 - 12:00am The alternative to the two-state vision is a bi-national state, where Palestinians will be the majority, PA Foreign Minister, Riyad al-Maliki said Thursday after meeting with European Union representatives. The Palestinian foreign minister said that "Israel continues its occupation, which has become the world's longest-lasting occupation," urging the international community to "intervene in order to put an end to it." |
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Ban considering fining Israel for Gaza damage
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Yitzhak Benhorin - June 12, 2009 - 12:00am UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Thursday it was "critical" that Israel halt all settlement activity. He added that he was considering fining the state $11 million for damage it did to UN facilities during the Gaza war. Ban says the fine was recommended by a committee elected to investigate damage done by the IDF to UN structures during Operation Cast Lead. |
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Minister Hershkowitz: Netanyahu sticking to national principles
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Roni Sofer - June 12, 2009 - 12:00am Right-wing ministers and MKs launch last-ditch efforts to influence PM's upcoming diplomatic speech: "I am under the impression that Netanyahu has not changed his skin and remains devoted to national principles," Science and Technology Minister Daniel Hershkowitz said Friday morning after meeting with the prime minister. |
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Netanyahu turned Palestinian statehood into bargaining chip
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Amitai Etzioni - (Opinion) June 12, 2009 - 12:00am If Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had walked out of the White House on May 18 and announced that he accepted President Barack Obama's demands to freeze all settlement construction, he would merely have forced the president to demand some other significant concession from Israel. Obama was urged not only by Arab leaders, but also by many so-called progressive Jewish ones to show "even-handedness," to stop the U.S. tilt in favor of Israel in order to become a credible broker for peace in the Middle East. |