July 7th

Lessons for an Israeli-Palestinian summit
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Aaron David Miller - (Opinion) July 7, 2010 - 12:00am

We were lost. The road to the presidential retreat at Camp David was winding and narrow; it was dark, the way it doesn't get in the city. We had clearly missed a turn somewhere. I kidded Dennis Ross, the lead U.S. negotiator for the imminent Israeli-Palestinian Camp David summit, that if we couldn't even find the president's compound, how were we going to help Bill Clinton negotiate an agreement between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestine Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafat once we got there? My gallows humor turned out to be all too prescient.

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Mr. Netanyahu at the White House
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
(Editorial) July 7, 2010 - 12:00am

President Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel satisfied their short-term political goals with an Oval Office meeting on Tuesday. It is less clear that they achieved much of substance.

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Indictments in Gaza War Are Announced
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Isabel Kershner - July 7, 2010 - 12:00am

The Israeli military said Tuesday that it had indicted “a number of” officers and soldiers for their actions during Israel’s three-week offensive in Gaza in the winter of 2008-9, including a staff sergeant accused of deliberately shooting at least one Palestinian civilian who was walking with a group of people waving a white flag.

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U.S. and Israel Shift Attention to Peace Process
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Mark Landler, Sheryl Gay Stolberg - July 7, 2010 - 12:00am

President Obama said Tuesday that he expected direct negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians to begin “well before” a moratorium on settlement construction expired at the end of September, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel pledged to take “concrete steps” in the coming weeks to get the talks moving.

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President Obama, Benjamin Netanyahu try to mend fences
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Politico
by Carol E. Lee, Laura Rozen - July 7, 2010 - 12:00am

President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tried to exude a new sense of warmth in their rocky relationship Tuesday as both expressed confidence that the Israeli leader will soon hold direct peace talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. “The bond between the United States and Israel is unbreakable,” said Obama, seated in the Oval Office alongside Netanyahu following their meeting that lasted more than 90 minutes. “We’ve seen over the last year how our relationship has broadened,” Obama added. “In fact, our relationship is continuing to improve.”

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Israeli Right-Wing MKs: US president is still evil
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Gil Hoffman - July 7, 2010 - 12:00am

US President Barack Obama’s attempts to portray himself as pro-Israel in his press conference with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu at the White House on Tuesday failed to persuade right-wing MKs, who warned that Obama is “still evil.” The MKs questioned the president’s motives and suggested that he was putting on a show for American Jews ahead of the crucial November mid-term elections, in which the Democrats may lose control of Congress. “He doesn’t sound evil now because he needs Jewish votes and money,” said Deputy Negev and Galilee Development Minister Ayoub Kara.

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TEST: Death by Gadget
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from
December 31, 1969 - 8:00pm

An ugly paradox of the 21st century is that some of our elegant symbols of modernity — smartphones, laptops and digital cameras — are built from minerals that seem to be fueling mass slaughter and rape in Congo. With throngs waiting in lines in the last few days to buy the latest iPhone, I’m thinking: What if we could harness that desperation for new technologies to the desperate need to curb the killing in central Africa?

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ATFP Senior Fellow Debates Israeli Diplomat on LA Public Radio
Interview with - - December 31, 1969 - 8:00pm

President Obama met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House this morning, seeking to ease tension between the United States and Israel. Diplomatic relations strained after Vice President Biden’s trip to Israel was upstaged by the announcement of new settlements in Gaza in March, and were further complicated by the Israeli military’s raid on a flotilla carrying people and aid to Gaza in May. Beyond a photo op, what did the two leaders accomplish? Has Israel insinuated a new tone toward Palestinians?

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July 6th

Tax exempt US funds are used to support Israeli settlement activity. Israel outlines its new Gaza policies. Pres. Obama and PM Netanyahu meet to try to repair US-Israel relations. Israel bans Palestinian West Bank agricultural products from Jerusalem. PM Fayyad and DM Barak meet to discuss security. Robert Danin says time is running out for an agreement. The CSM says Netanyahu must offer concessions to Obama. A new report by B'Tselem says 42% of the West Bank is controlled by settlements, and Seth Freedman says many should be evacuated. The PA wraps up its store-to-store settlement goods boycott campaign. Ira Sharkansky dismisses diplomatic moves, but Hussein Ibish defends them. Palestinian officials call on the US to make decisive decisions. Akiva Eldar says Netanyahu will present unworkable “security borders” at the meeting. Numerous Gazans claim to have been used as human shields during the Gaza war. Orly Azoulay says Obama will politely tell Netanyahu the time is now for a Palestinian state. In These Times interviews Hussein Ibish. On the Ibishblog, Ibish says adroit Palestinian diplomacy has set the stage for the Netanyahu meeting.

Netanyahu heads to Washington in effort to mend U.S. ties
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - July 5, 2010 - 12:00am

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will fly to Washington on Monday evening to meet with President Barack Obama for the fifth time since the two leaders took office. A senior source in Jerusalem said that Netanyahu hoped the meeting would enable him to regain Obama's trust after months of tension regarding West Bank settlement construction. Netanyahu was planning to present Obama with a number of proposals for coordinating progress in the Middle East peace process, said the source.

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