March 16th

US waiting 'formal' Israeli response ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews March 15, 2010 - 12:00am The US State Department said Monday it was waiting for a "formal" Israeli response to its concerns, declining comment on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's remarks in support of settlements. Netanyahu earlier Monday indicated that construction of Israeli settlements would continue in east Jerusalem, despite a tense phone call last week from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urging him to stop. » Read more

U.S. confident Mideast peace talks to continue ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Natasha Mozgovaya - March 16, 2010 - 12:00am The U.S. is confident proximity talks between Israel and the Palestinians will continue, despite recent tension over Israel's plan to construct 1,600 new housing units in an East Jerusalem neighborhood, State Department official Philip J. Crowley said on Monday. "They have begun," Crowley said referring to indirect peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. "I'm confident that there will be another round of proximity talks." He added, however, that the administration wants to make sure that both sides are committed to making progress. » Read more

Row with U.S. questions Netanyahu's fitness to lead ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Yoel Marcus - March 16, 2010 - 12:00am When Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declares at a cabinet meeting that the media exaggerated in describing the grave crisis with the United States and throws in a few more phrases from the "it'll all be fine" department, it is clear that he has neither learned nor forgotten anything. You didn't have to read Thomas Friedman's devastating column in The New York Times to know that there is a limit to the Americans' patience and their willingness to let us pour mud on their heads and call it rain. » Read more

Police chief: Jerusalem violence won't spark third Intifada ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Fadi Eyadat, Jack Khoury, Liel Kyzer - March 16, 2010 - 12:00am Police Commissioner David Cohen on Tuesday toured Jerusalem's Old City after clashes between Palestinians and Israeli security forces, and said he did not believe the recent violence would spark a third intifada. Dozens of Palestinians clashed with Israeli police in East Jerusalem after Hamas declared a "day of rage" to protest Israel's consecration of an ancient synagogue in the city one day earlier. Palestinians hurled stones at police and burned tires and trash bins in several areas of East Jerusalem, which Israel captured along with the West Bank during the 1967 Six-Day War. » Read more

U.S.-Israel flap: What comes next? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Politico by Laura Rozen, Ben Smith - (Opinion) March 15, 2010 - 12:00am Bibi can hear us now. A drumbeat of angry statements from senior administration officials has produced a domestic crisis for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and a sense of crisis in the U.S.-Israel relationship. The unusually angry words from Cabinet members and top White House officials – including “insult” and “affront” – were a rare public display of unresolved tensions over the question of settlements and what some U.S. officials see as Netanyahu’s attempts to sabotage a peace process. » Read more

Israel's Netanyahu says Jewish building in East Jerusalem "in no way" hurts Palestinians ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman March 15, 2010 - 12:00am JERUSALEM — Israel's Netanyahu says Jewish building in east Jerusalem "in no way" hurts Palestinians. ___ March 15, 2010 10:36 AM EDT Copyright 2010, The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Israeli troops wound 7 Palestinians-medics ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Saed Hawari - March 15, 2010 - 12:00am * Palestinian protesters clash with Israeli troops * Senior Palestinian politician warns of new Intifada (Adds Qurie quotes) By Saed Hawari ATARA, West Bank, March 15 (Reuters) - Israeli troops wounded at least seven Palestinians during a confrontation in the West Bank on Monday, Palestinian medical sources said, and a senior Palestinian politician said a new Intifada could break out. Palestinian witnesses and medics said soldiers had fired live rounds at the demonstrators but the Israeli military denied this, saying other measures to disperse the crowd were used. » Read more

Mitchell Mideast travel in flux amid US-Israel row ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Arshad Mohammed - March 15, 2010 - 12:00am * Housing announcement has strained U.S.-Israel ties * Some lawmakers rebuke U.S. criticism of Israel By Arshad Mohammed WASHINGTON, March 15 (Reuters) - A U.S. envoy's plans to visit the Middle East were up in the air on Monday, the State Department said, as it waited for Israel to respond to U.S. demands it show that it is serious about peace talks with the Palestinians. » Read more

PA condemns settlements, child detentions ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency March 16, 2010 - 12:00am Ramallah – Ma'an – During its weekly cabinet meeting on Monday, the Palestinian Authority condemned Israeli settlement expansion in Jerusalem and the West Bank. The cabinet said it welcomed the US, EU and Quartet's stance against the announcement that 1,600 Israeli-only homes are to be built in occupied East Jerusalem, further calling on Israel to revoke its decision. » Read more

Israel rejects U.S. calls to halt East Jerusalem plan ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Paul Richter, Edmund Sanders - March 16, 2010 - 12:00am Reporting from Washington and Jerusalem A day after trying to ease tensions, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday rejected U.S. demands to end the construction of new housing units in disputed East Jerusalem, leaving the two allies in the middle of an increasingly uncomfortable diplomatic feud. The United States wants Netanyahu to order a halt to the construction and make a gesture to Palestinians that could help lead to peace negotiations. » Read more