PA official: We won't recognize Israel as a Jewish state ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz September 8, 2010 - 12:00am The Palestinian Authority will not recognize Israel as a Jewish state, even though the PA acknowledges there is a Jewish majority in Israel, senior Palestinian negotiator Nabil Shaath said at a press conference in Ramallah on Wednesday. According to Shaath, the Palestinian negotiating team turned down Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's request to discuss the recognition of Israel as a Jewish state during the upcoming round of peace talks in Sharm el-Sheikh next week. » Read more

Pessimistic about peace, Israelis greet new year ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Diaa Hadid - (Analysis) September 8, 2010 - 12:00am JERUSALEM — Israelis usher in the Jewish new year, or Rosh Hashana, at sundown Wednesday with a widespread sense of pessimism that a new round of U.S.-sponsored Mideast talks can achieve peace. President Barack Obama wants a deal within a year, but Israelis are deeply skeptical after decades of failed efforts. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged the widespread doubts. » Read more

Erekat did not intend to 'apologize to Israel' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency (Analysis) September 9, 2010 - 12:00am JERICHO (Ma'an) -- Chief PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat issued a statement on Wednesday alleging his televised address to Israelis asking that they be his "peace partner" was altered. » Read more

Next round of talks to be split in Egypt, Jerusalem ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency (Analysis) September 9, 2010 - 12:00am WASHINGTON (Ma'an) -- US Mediators will meet in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm Ash-Sheikh on Tuesday, and then move Wednesday to Jerusalem where talks will continue. "The Egyptians have volunteered to host a round of direct negotiations," State Department spokesman Phillip Crowley told reporters Wednesday, and confirmed that a move to Jerusalem for a second day of talks had been agreed to during discussions the week before. Crowley gave no explanation for the change in location, which was expected to be Egypt for both days of talks. » Read more

Diplomacy: Talking the talk ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Herb Keinon - (Analysis) September 8, 2010 - 12:00am Politicians and pundits both here and abroad were left scratching their heads following last week’s talks in Washington. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, in two tightly and carefully written statements, did not come across in a way in which he could be easily pigeonholed. The pundits could not cast him, as they generally love to, as that “hard-line,” right-wing leader who misses no opportunity to torpedo any chance for peace, because his rhetoric did not fit that characterization. » Read more

'Neither Israel nor the Palestinians can afford to walk out on the U.S.' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Natasha Mozgovaya - (Interview) September 7, 2010 - 12:00am As peace talks cranked into a higher gear, with Palestinian and Israeli leaders finally meeting face-to-face in Washington and limbering up for the next round in Cairo, Haaretz caught up with David Makovsky, one of America's leading Mideast analysts, to ask if there is really enough meat to the new negotiations to appease the cynics. Amr Moussa, the Secretay General, of the Arab League, predicted on Friday that the new round of negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians will be the last. Do you agree? » Read more

Clinton: Arab momentum building for two-state solution ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Natasha Mozgovaya - (Analysis) September 8, 2010 - 12:00am U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday dismissed doubts over the success of Middle East peace talks, saying skeptics were "wrong" and that negotiations had gained momentum with backing from Arab states willing to accept a two-state solution. "There's a certain momentum," she said. "You know, we have some challenges in the early going that we have to get over, but I think that we have a real shot here." » Read more

PLO: Don't let Israeli extremists derail peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency (Analysis) September 9, 2010 - 12:00am RAMALLAH (Ma’an) -- "The USA, the Quartet and the Arab world must exert their utmost efforts to ensure a complete cessation of settlement construction," a statement from the PLO's Executive Committee said Thursday night. The statement asked that parties invested in the talks work to "forbid extremist forces in Israel from derailing peace talks," and reiterated the support of the body for the negotiations. » Read more