The Associated Press reports on the decision by Israeli and Palestinian leaders to continue working towards a final peace settlement despite the dispute over the Har Homa settlement (2.) The Forward examines efforts by right-wing Jewish American groups and their allies in Congress to abrogate the language of an old Palestinian document despite Israeli and mainstream Jewish American opposition to these efforts (4.) Time Magazine uses the example of the closed soft drinks factory in Gaza to illustrate how the continuing Israeli blockage of the territory is driving moderate Palestinians into the arms of Hamas (5.) A Middle East Times editorial is critical of Israeli settlement activity and checkpoints for side-tracking Israeli-Palestinian negotiations (7.) BBC (UK) reports on efforts by the Israeli and Palestinian leaders to revive peace talks (8.) A Miftah (Palestine) opinion by Ferris professor of journalism at Princeton university Daoud Kuttab analyzes how the recent weakening of the Christian Zionist movement in the United States and its effect on policy towards Israel/Palestine (10.) In Haaretz (Israel) Akiva Eldar is critical of Israeli PM Olmert's reluctance to address the Palestinian prisoner issue in any meaningful way, particularly as the issue is one of great sensitivity to all Palestinians (12.) Also in Haaretz, Shmuel Rosner and Aluf Benn examines how the Annapolis meeting and consequent efforts to revive the Israeli-Palestinian peace process have exacerbated tensions between U.S. Secretary of State Rice and Israeli PM Olmert (13.) A Jerusalem Post (Israel) opinion by David Kimche hopes that 2008 will prove to be a year where Israeli leaders will rise as statesmen to make peace with the Palestinians (14.)

The Christian Science Monitor examines the various stumbling blocks facing Israeli and Palestinian leaders as they attempt to launch a post-Annapolis peace process (1), while the Associated Press looks at how the planned Israeli expansion of the Har Homa settlement remains the largest of these stumbling blocks (3.) A Washington Post editorial urges Israeli PM Olmert and Palestinian president Abbas to seize control over the process of Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking and not allow themselves to be sidetracked by issues that arise (6.) A Forward editorial equates the lobbying of the Coordinating Council on Jerusalem against any sharing of Jerusalem in a final peace settlement with the Palestinians, with opposition against any emerging Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement (7.) The Los Angeles Times looks at one Palestinian landowner's attempt to resist Israeli settlers' attempts to seize his land, emblematic of the larger picture of Israeli expropriation of Palestinian land for the settlement enterprise in the occupied West Bank (8.) A Daily Star (Lebanon) editorial urges Israel to re-assess its long-standing policies towards achieving security and replace them with serious engagement with the Palestinians (11.) A Jordan Times (Jordan) editorial offers mixed reviews of the Palestinian negotiating team's response to post-Annapolis Israeli settlement expansion (12.) In Miftah (Palestine), Joharah Baker analyzes the significance of the issue of Israeli settlements to both Israelis and Palestinians (13.) A Haaretz (Israel) opinion by Amira Hass ponders whether the continued dispossession of Palestinian land will lead to another round of Israeli-Palestinian violence (15.)

Reuters reports on the continuing complications that Israeli settlement activity is posing to Israeli-Palestinian negotiations (2.) The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs spotlights the ATFP second annual gala and the remarks of keynote speaker Undersecretary Nicholas Burns on Palestinian statehood (4.) The Jewish Telegraphic Agency examines the possibility of a prisoner exchange and ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas (7.) Inter Press Service looks at the uniquely challenging conditions facing Lebanon's undocumented Palestinian refugees (8.) The Independent (UK) reports on a good Christmas tourism season for Bethlehem (9.) A Gulf News (UAE) editorial is critical of Israel's new settlement expansion plans (12.) In Haaretz (Israel) Akiva Eldar examines efforts to resolve the Palestinian prisoner issue (13.) Also in Haaretz is an analysis of how the controversy over the Israeli settlement issue may not be settled until the visit to the region of President Bush in January 2008 (15.)