February 23rd

Israelis set more talks on coalition ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters February 23, 2009 - 1:00am Israel's political rivals Benjamin Netanyahu and Tzipi Livni, meeting yesterday for the first time since the inconclusive Feb. 10 election, agreed to hold further talks about a future government. Netanyahu, head of the hawkish Likud party, was asked Friday by President Shimon Peres to form a new ruling coalition. He has vowed to press on with efforts to persuade centrist leader Livni, Israel's foreign minister, to join him in a government. » Read more

Holy Land Christians urge pope to call off visit ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press February 22, 2009 - 1:00am A group of Palestinian Christians has asked Pope Benedict XVI to call off his planned visit to the Holy Land in May. The 40 community activists wrote to the pope that his visit would help boost Israel's image and inadvertently minimize Palestinian suffering under Israeli occupation. The group urged the pope to link his visit to a series of Israeli measures. The letter said this must include improved access to Christian places of worship and halting taxation of church properties. » Read more

Defence chiefs urge hawk Netanyahu to strike deal with Syria ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Times by Uzi Mahnaimi - February 22, 2009 - 1:00am ISRAEL’S next prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, will face an early test when he finally takes office in the next few weeks: should he ditch an election pledge and follow his defence chiefs’ strategic advice to explore a peace treaty with Syria? During his campaign Netanyahu, the leader of the conservative Likud party, had struck a belligerent note and pledged he would never agree to Syria’s main demand that the Golan Heights, seized by Israel in the 1967 war, should be returned. » Read more

Hamas: Welcoming the Americans ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat by Tariq Alhomayed - (Opinion) February 21, 2009 - 1:00am Hamas considered the visit of a US delegation to Gaza a step in the right direction and it asked the delegation to convey a true image of Israel’s crimes in the Gaza Strip to the US administration. » Read more

February 20th

Critics aside, Israeli officials see successes in Gaza operation ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) by Leslie Susser - February 16, 2009 - 1:00am A month after the Gaza war, with Kassam rockets continuing to fall in southern Israel, many skeptical Israelis are questioning whether the war achieved anything. Since the cease-fire on Jan. 18, militiamen have fired nearly 50 rockets and mortars at civilian targets in the Gaza periphery. Israel has retaliated with targeted assassinations and airstrikes against smuggling tunnels along the Gaza-Egyptian border. » Read more

The Cleanser: Lobby Whistles Up Cordesman to "Prove" Israel Waged a Clean War in Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Counterpunch by Norman Finkelstein - February 19, 2009 - 1:00am Anthony H. Cordesman, a leading military analyst from the Center for Strategic and International Studies, has published a “strategic analysis” of the Gaza massacre.(1) He reaches the remarkable conclusion that “Israel did not violate the laws of war.” The report is based on “briefings in Israeli [sic] during and immediately after the fighting made possible by a visit sponsored by Project Interchange, and using day-to-day reporting issued by the Israeli Defense Spokesman.” Cordesman omits mention that Project Interchange is funded by the American Jewish Committee. » Read more

Mitchell could support PA unity gov't ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Counterpunch by Alexander Cockburn, Hilary Leila Krieger - (Editorial) February 19, 2009 - 1:00am US Middle East Envoy George Mitchell expressed support for Egyptian efforts to forge a Palestinian national unity government, indicating that America could take a new tack on Fatah-Hamas reconciliation, during a conference call Thursday with Jewish leaders. » Read more

Egypt's strategy toward Gaza is incremental, long-term ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Common Ground News Service by Gamal A. G. Soltan - February 19, 2009 - 1:00am The Gaza war was seemingly an inevitable conflict. The pre-war reality was unacceptable to any of the concerned parties. Hamas was not satisfied with a ceasefire that kept the tiny Gaza Strip isolated from the world. Palestinian suffering in besieged Gaza challenged Hamas' claim of effectiveness as an elected government capable of providing for the wellbeing of its people. Nor did the terms of the ceasefire allow Hamas to pursue the program of resilient resistance that is so central to the movement's identity. The war was Hamas' way out of this entrapment. » Read more

Israel’s biggest danger ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Common Ground News Service by Fareed Zakaria - February 19, 2009 - 1:00am Even before a new coalition could emerge, Israel’s latest election was historic. It marked the collapse of Labour, the party that can plausibly claim to have founded Israel and produced its most celebrated prime ministers, from David Ben-Gurion (as head of Labour’s predecessor, Mapai), through Golda Meir to Yitzhak Rabin. » Read more

Unlocking Palestinian politics ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Common Ground News Service by Jan Künzl, Michael Meyer-Resende - February 19, 2009 - 1:00am With the world's focus on the recent war, a less-noticed aspect of the current Palestinian malaise is the expiry of President Mahmoud Abbas’ term this January. While the two-state peace solution with Israel is premised on an emerging Palestinian state with functioning institutions, the constitutional legitimacy of the Palestinian Authority is dwindling. Without a political process between Hamas and Fatah, the territories will become two statelets run by de-facto rulers. » Read more