July 2nd

Palestinian President Reaches Out to Israelis ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Dina Kraft - July 2, 2010 - 12:00am TEL AVIV — The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, made a rare effort to reach out directly to the Israeli public, calling on Israel’s leadership to step up peace efforts while suggesting that his people were growing weary waiting for a state. “We want to live in peace. Don’t kill the hope,” Mr. Abbas said in comments published Thursday after a group interview with six correspondents from Israel’s leading newspapers. » Read more

Palestinian PM: Direct Mideast peace talks are a long way off ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by RIZEK ABDEL JAWAD - July 2, 2010 - 12:00am Indirect Israeli-Palestinian peace talks have not yet made enough progress to justify the start of face-to-face negotiations, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said on Thursday during a visit to France. The U.S.-mediated discussions kicked off in May and are due to last four months, with American diplomats seeking to find common ground to bring the two sides to the same table. "We have yet to see the kind of progress that would be able to justify the consideration of ... direct talks," Fayyad said following a meeting with senior European officials over aid. » Read more

Official: PM-Obama talks to determine region's future ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Roni Sofer - July 2, 2010 - 12:00am Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's senior advisor's, Yitzhak Molcho and Uzi Arad, are expected to leave for Cairo on Sunday for meetings with senior Egyptian officials ahead of Netanyahu's meeting with US President Barack Obama in Washington next week. "This time, the talks with President Obama on the Palestinian issue are more important than ever," a senior state official in Jerusalem said Friday morning. "They will determine the future of the process in the region." » Read more

IDF probe into Gaza flotilla likely to be more critical than expected ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Amos Harel - July 2, 2010 - 12:00am The internal military probe into the Israel Defense Forces raid on the Turkish aid flotilla to Gaza headed by Gen. (res. ) Giora Eiland is expected to request more time than it was originally allotted to reach its conclusions. It appears that members of Eiland's staff are of the belief that the scope of the army's mishaps is more extensive than originally thought. The committee's findings are certainly expected to be more critical than the statements made by senior IDF officers immediately after the May 31 incident on the Mavi Marmara. » Read more

PM prepares for US visit ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post July 2, 2010 - 12:00am National Security Advisers Uzi Arad and Yitzhak Molko, will leave for Egypt on Sunday to meet with head of Egyptian Intelligence Omar Suleiman, Israel Radio reported on Friday. The meeting is meant to help Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu prepare for his trip to Washington on Monday. Netanyahu plans to meet US President Barack Obama next week to discuss the peace process. » Read more

Abbas: direct Palestinian-Israeli negotiations subject to indirect talks' progress ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua July 2, 2010 - 12:00am Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Thursday told the U.S. mediator that the direct Palestinian- Israeli negotiation is subject to the progress that could be made by the ongoing indirect talks. "We hope that this position is clear to the international community and the U.S. administration" which sponsors the proximity talks between Israel and the Palestinians, said Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, following a meeting here between Abbas and the U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell. » Read more

Israel willing to release 1,000 Palestinians in exchange for Shalit ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua July 1, 2010 - 12:00am Israeli government agrees to free some 1,000 Palestinians currently held in Israeli prisons for the release of Israeli captive soldier Gilad Shalit, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday evening. "That's the price I am willing to face to bring Shalit home," local news service Ynet quoted Netanyahu as saying in a speech, by which the premier presented domestic public the government's stance on the prisoners exchange negotiation with the Palestinian Hamas movement. » Read more

Gov't: PA may control Gaza crossings ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Yaakov Katz, Tovah Lazaroff - July 2, 2010 - 12:00am The Defense Ministry has begun preparing for the possible transfer to the PA of responsibility for the crossings into the Gaza Strip, The Jerusalem Post has learned. On Wednesday night, Maj.-Gen. Eitan Dangot, the coordinator of government activities in the territories, met with Hussein al-Sheikh, the Palestinian Authority’s minister for civilian affairs. The two men decided to establish a number of joint Israeli-PA teams to coordinate work on two issues – the renovation of the Kerem Shalom crossing and international construction projects in the Gaza Strip. » Read more

Decision time for the PM ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post (Editorial) July 2, 2010 - 12:00am Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s three-hour-long meeting with reporters from the Hebrew press this week in Ramallah can be seen as an attempt – quite possibly with heavy US encouragement – to reach out to the Israeli public. There was nothing particularly new in what Abbas had to say. » Read more

Israeli PM Netanyahu renews Shalit prisoner swap offer ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News July 2, 2010 - 12:00am But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned he would not pay "any price" for the release of Sgt Shalit, seized by militants on the Gaza border in 2006. Talks to free Sgt Shalit broke down last year, after representatives of Israel and Hamas, which controls Gaza, failed to agree on a list of prisoners. Hamas wants militants freed who Israel says have "blood on their hands". On Sunday, Sgt Shalit's family began an 11-day cross-country march to the prime minister's office in Jerusalem, where they say they plan to camp until he comes home. » Read more