November 7th

Bush punts unfinished Mideast peace deal to Obama ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press by Matthew Lee - November 6, 2008 - 8:00pm The Bush administration has conceded that an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal is no longer possible by the end of its term and is preparing to hand the fragile, unfinished U.S.-backed peace effort to President-elect Obama. Obama may not want it, at least as designed by the Republican Bush administration, seen as slow to embrace the role of honest Mideast broker. Many of Obama's foreign policy advisers were players in the Clinton administration's extensive Mideast peace efforts and are unenthusiastic about President Bush's hands-off approach. » Read more

Time to appoint a Middle East envoy ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Financial Times (Editorial) November 6, 2008 - 8:00pm In speech after spell-binding speech, Barack Obama made clear throughout his campaign his intention to restore America’s reputation in the world; that, as he told the vast crowd at his Chicago victory rally, “America’s beacon still burns as bright”. In the Middle East and throughout broad swathes of the Muslim world, that beacon is invisible after eight years of the Bush administration’s bungling. President-elect Obama has a unique chance to rekindle it. » Read more

Fatah and Hamas in unity government talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Rory McCarthy - November 6, 2008 - 8:00pm The rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah will meet in Cairo on Sunday for the first time in more than a year in an Egyptian-led effort to agree a unified government and end their divisions. Egyptian officials have prepared an outline deal that would include a "national reconciliation government", but it is short on details and could take weeks of negotiation. The last effort at a unity government, arranged by the Saudis in February 2007, collapsed and the factions reverted to a near civil war until Hamas seized full control of Gaza months later. » Read more

No Mideast Deal Under Bush, White House Says ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Glenn Kessler - November 6, 2008 - 8:00pm The White House made it official yesterday: There will be no Middle East peace pact on President Bush's watch. The long-shot effort by Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had been written off months ago by many analysts in both the region and the United States, but the White House had insisted that a deal remained possible. Yesterday, however, just two days after Barack Obama was elected president, officials confirmed that they will leave the issue to the new president. » Read more

The New President and Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Israel Policy Forum by M.J. Rosenberg - November 6, 2008 - 8:00pm It was quite an election night, and quite an election. The Jewish vote went 78 percent for Barack Obama. It is now safe to say that, after 80 years of consistently voting Democratic for President, the Jewish vote is no less predictable than the African-American vote or the vote of union households. Jews are, as the old phrase goes, “yellow dog Democrats.” It is almost odd that a community that is so fragmented on so many issues stands pretty much as one every four years. » Read more

November 6th

Quartet in Final Push Before Bush Term Ends ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line November 5, 2008 - 8:00pm Representatives of the Quartet, the four international players trying to outline a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, are meeting in Sharm A-Sheikh on Sunday in a bid to push forward the peace process before U.S. President George W. Bush’s term ends in January. Officials from the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia will meet in the Egyptian resort to assess their progress up until now. They also want to ensure that talks will continue after general elections take place in Israel in February. » Read more

P.A.- Israeli File to ‘Move Smoothly’ to Obama ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line by Abd el-Raouf Arnaout - November 5, 2008 - 8:00pm An American committee headed by Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs David Welch is preparing a detailed file on the ongoing negotiations between the Palestinians and the Israelis ahead of submitting it to the new United States administration, The Media Line (TML) has learned. Yassir ‘Abd Rabboh, top aide to Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud ‘Abbas, said that U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had informed the Palestinians of this development at their meeting with her in New York in September. » Read more

Olmert heads to D.C. to wrangle last favors from Bush ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Aluf Benn - November 5, 2008 - 8:00pm Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will visit President George Bush in Washington later this month in an attempt to reach last minute agreements and extract a number of promises before both leaders step down. Olmert is looking for commitments from Bush on the peace process with the Palestinians, U.S. military aid and various arms deals. » Read more

World Bank: Palestinian economy could flourish if Israel eased restrictions ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press November 5, 2008 - 8:00pm The Palestinian economy has "incredible potential" that could be unleashed if Israel eases restrictions on Palestinian movement, the area's World Bank chief said Wednesday, a day after a high-level World Bank delegation inaugurated a sewage storage facility in a rare trip to Hamas-ruled Gaza. » Read more

Hamas arrests dozens of Fatah activists: Fatah ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters November 5, 2008 - 8:00pm Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah group said Hamas forces arrested dozens of its activists in the GazaStrip on Thursday in an attempt to sabotage Egyptian efforts to reconcile the rival factions. Nine of the detainees, including a senior Fatah lawmaker, were later released but about 40 others remained in custody, Fatah sources said. Egypt hopes to end the factional fighting by hosting unity talks from November 9. » Read more