July 9th

The Israel-Turkey Imbroglio
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Roger Cohen - (Opinion) July 9, 2010 - 12:00am

NEW YORK — Here’s an intriguing nugget, given Turkey’s recent decision to close its airspace to Israeli military planes: When Israel attacked a covert Syrian nuclear reactor on Sept. 6, 2007, its bombers overflew Turkey. A former senior U.S. official who was intimately involved in handling the fallout from the raid told me Turkish officials raised the issue with Israel, were invited to discuss the matter, but in the end let it drop. Those were different times, before Turkish-Israeli ties entered their current poisonous phase.

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Israel Vows to ‘Take Risks’ in Talks With Palestinians
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Kyle Crichton, Isabel Kershner - July 9, 2010 - 12:00am

Declaring that he intended to “confound the critics and the skeptics,” an upbeat Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel told an audience of foreign policy experts in New York on Thursday that he was ready to begin direct peace talks with the Palestinians “next week” or even sooner. “Just get on with it,” he said.

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Palestinians face being walled by Israeli security barrier
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Harriet Sherwood - July 9, 2010 - 12:00am

Sixty-three-year-old Ahmed Bargouth sits in the shade of a walnut tree and contemplates the view before him. Across the valley is Jerusalem's zoo, which his grandchildren have never been able to visit, although they have watched animals through binoculars.

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Bil'in leader remains in jail after term ends
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
July 9, 2010 - 12:00am

Bethlehem - Ma'an - Bil'in protest leader Adeeb Abu Rahma is being held in Israeli custody until the prosecution's appeal against him is heard, despite having served his term in full, a statement read Friday. Abu Rahma, a taxi driver and organizer of the weekly anti wall protests in the central West Bank village of Bil'in near Ramallah, was sentenced to 12 months, a further 12 months of suspended sentence, and ordered to pay a fine on Thursday, in the first of a series of trials against Palestinian protest organizers.

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July 8th

The New York Times hosts a debate on the effect of tax exempt US donations on Israeli settlement activity. Nick Kristof expresses admiration for Israeli human rights activists. Several commentaries praise warmer relations between Pres. Obama and PM Netanyahu. The PA Economy Minister wants better consumer standards. Israel releases a list of goods still banned in Gaza. Reuters thinks Hamas may have weathered the storm of the blockade. Hamas asks Egypt to host a meeting with Fatah leaders. Obama tells Israeli TV that peace is possible but skepticism is justified. Ari Shavit says Netanyahu must take advantage of his present situation or face further difficulties. Netanyahu hints at flexibility on Jerusalem, says he's ready to discuss settlements and believes direct talks are imminent. Jeremy Bowen says behind the theater of goodwill, US-Israel tensions remain. The National and The Arab News do not approve of Obama's handling of Netanyahu, but the Jordan Times says Israel is beginning to bend to international pressure. Meretz USA releases more of its interview with Hussein Ibish.

Obama: Mideast peace possible, but Israel is right to be skeptical
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
July 8, 2010 - 12:00am

U.S. President Barack Obama has said there is hope for peace in the Middle East, but told Israeli media that is not "blindly optimistic". Israel is right to be skeptical about the peace process, he told Israeli television in a yet-to-be-aired interview that was taped on Wednesday. He noted during the interview that many people thought the founding of Israel was impossible, so its very existence should be a "a great source of hope." Benjamin Netanyahu and Barack Obama The interview with the U.S. president took place a day after he met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington.

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King for a day
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Ari Shavit - (Opinion) July 8, 2010 - 12:00am

A week ago Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's condition was nearly desperate. The Turkel committee became a committee with teeth liable to bite the prime minister, while State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss' scrutiny of the flotilla affair threatened to wound the prime minister. Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman started making threats again and Defense Minister Ehud Barak continued to make trouble. Many observers are predicting that the government will start to disintegrate by September.

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Focus U.S.A. / Netanyahu-Obama meeting continues the Israel-U.S. soap opera
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Natasha Mozgovaya - (Opinion) July 8, 2010 - 12:00am

Professional cynics should have no doubt that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Barack Obama had an “excellent” meeting at the White House on Tuesday. After all, Obama used the adjective three times, seemingly compensating for the previous episode of the unfolding Israel-U.S. soap opera, in which Obama snubbed the prime minister. Other superlatives describing the two countries’ relationship were “extraordinary," “unbreakable," “strategic," “closer and closer," as well as the declaration that “our relationship is continuing to improve."

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Hamas chief wants Egypt to host meeting with Fatah leaders
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
July 8, 2010 - 12:00am

The Damascus-based Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal wrote a letter to Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, telling him he is ready to meet leaders from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party in Cairo, a Hamas official said Thursday. Mashaal sent his letter with an Egyptian lawmaker Mustafa Bakri when he met him in Damascus Tuesday, Yousef Rizka, an adviser to Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haneya, told Xinhua.

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Netanyahu to CNN: I'm prepared to discuss future of settlements
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
July 8, 2010 - 12:00am

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday he was prepared to discuss "right away" the future of Jewish settlements if Palestinians entered direct peace talks with Israel. Asked on CNN's "Larry King Live" if he would extend beyond September a 10-month moratorium on housing starts in settlements in the occupied West Bank, Netanyahu said it was time for the "Let's just get into the talks and one of the things we'll discuss right away is this issue of settlements and that's what I propose doing," he said.

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