January 10th

Bush Cautions Israel On Undermining Abbas ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Financial Times by Tobias Buck - January 10, 2008 - 4:45pm George W Bush on Thursday cautioned Israel not to undermine the authorities and security forces of a fledgling Palestinian state, as he sought to reassure Palestinian leaders that the US will act as an even-handed mediator in the Arab-Israeli peace talks launched last year. » Read more

In Exclusion, Hamas Counts ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Inter Press Service (IPS) by Mohammed Omer - (Opinion) January 10, 2008 - 4:44pm Leaders from the Palestinian party Hamas that won the elections in Gaza two years back have inevitably not been invited to meet Bush. The U.S. considers Hamas a terrorist organisation. Hamas took control of Gaza by force from the Fatah party headed by Abbas in June last year, about a year and a half after it swept the polls in January 2006. As Hamas leaders and supporters see it, Bush's talks with Abbas can count for little if they are kept out. And so with Abbas's talks with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert just ahead of Bush's visit. » Read more

Bush Urges Peace As Part Of Broader Mideast Vision ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) by Ron Kampeas - January 10, 2008 - 4:43pm The thorny question of Israel's West Bank settlements has dogged President Bush's overarching message during his eight-day tour of the Middle East: Democracies must unite to confront terrorism. In language that is unusually blunt considering his warm relations with Israel, Bush has made clear his frustration with Israel's failure so far to deal with outposts, or unauthorized new settlements. » Read more

Dangerous Talk ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward (Editorial) January 10, 2008 - 4:41pm srael got a rude reminder last week of just how deeply it is divided on the question of what to do with the West Bank. A popular rabbi, Shalom Dov Wolpe, declared publicly January 2 that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and his top ministers ought to be hanged for considering withdrawal. » Read more

On Mideast Trip, Bush Hopes To Propel Historic Israeli-palestinian Peacemaking ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Ilene Prusher - January 10, 2008 - 4:40pm The patriotic tunes that greeted President Bush as he arrived in Israel Wednesday for the first time in his presidency set the tone for a historic visit. But given the laudatory remarks of Mr. Bush and his Israeli counterparts on the airport tarmac, the visit seemed focused on celebrating and strengthening the US-Israel relationship, throwing into question whether Bush would be equally welcomed Thursday in the West Bank. » Read more

Bush Urges End To Israeli Occupation ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Jeffrey Heller, Matt Spetalnick - January 10, 2008 - 4:24pm U.S. President George W. Bush, hardening his tone towards Israel on Thursday, urged an end to "the occupation" of the West Bank and pushed for a peace treaty to be signed within a year to create a Palestinian state. The United States rarely uses the politically charged word "occupation" to describe Israel's hold on lands captured in a 1967 war. It is a term Palestinians seeking a state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip employ frequently to describe their plight. » Read more

Bush Predicts Completion Of Mideast Treaty ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Michael Abramowitz - January 10, 2008 - 4:22pm President Bush said Thursday that a Palestinian-Israeli peace treaty could be signed within a year, but that the subsequent creation of a Palestinian state will take longer and require both sides to make "painful political concessions." Those include, he said, an end to the Israeli "occupation" of Arab land seized in a 1967 war, a recognition by the Palestinians that some disputed territory will remain with Israel, and compromise over the status of Jerusalem, a city which both sides claim as important to their identity and faith. » Read more

Bush Begins Peace Effort Bonded With Olmert ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Steven Erlanger, Steven Lee Myers - January 10, 2008 - 4:21pm They share an enthusiasm for sports, fitness and the occasional cigar. They are both unpopular leaders, scarred by terrorism and zealous in their warnings about the threat of Islamic extremism. And yet they profess grand ambitions to accomplish what other leaders have failed to do for decades: make peace between the Israelis and Palestinians. » Read more

January 9th

Situation Assessment / What Bush Can And Can't Accomplish ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Aluf Benn - January 9, 2008 - 6:26pm All it took was for the engines of Air Force One to fire up to produce two major breakthroughs in talks between Israel and the Palestinians. The first was the announcement by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas that they were willing to start talks dealing with the conflict's core issues. The second was Yisrael Beiteinu Chairman Avigdor Lieberman's promise not to cause a coalition crisis by withdrawing from the government during Bush's visit. » Read more

Bush, Accessory After The Facts ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz January 9, 2008 - 6:25pm The Migron outpost, which was established on privately owned Palestinian land, and whose dismantlement the United States has been demanding with fake determination, is already an established locale: It is seven years old, with well-tended gardens, swings, a nursery, a kindergarten, infrastructure in which NIS 4 million of state funds have been invested and inhabitants who look not like "hilltop youth" but like ordinary citizens, the sort who work for their living in Jerusalem and come home every night and never even dream that anyone might dare to evacuate them some day. » Read more