Israel mulls temporary freeze on settlement construction ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Barak Ravid - June 24, 2009 - 12:00am Israel is considering enacting a temporary freeze on settlement construction, excluding projects already underway, if the United States agrees to continued construction for natural growth once the freeze ends, an Israeli government source has told Haaretz. U.S. Mideast envoy George Mitchell has been conducting low-profile talks with Israel in a bid to reach an agreement on the settlement issue, the government official said. » Read more

Israel removes dozens of West Bank roadblocks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Amos Harel, Avi Issacharoff - June 24, 2009 - 12:00am Recent weeks have seen a dramatic change in Israel's roadblock policy in the West Bank. Right under the nose of the right-wing government of Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israel Defense Forces has lifted some of the main, permanent roadblocks in the West Bank, which have played a central role in restricting the movement of Palestinians, mostly between the main Palestinian cities. » Read more

US-Israel talks in Paris aborted ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News June 24, 2009 - 12:00am A meeting between Israel's prime minister and a senior US envoy has been cancelled amid growing differences over settlement building in the West Bank. Israeli newspaper Yediot Aharonot said the US put off the meeting in response to Benjamin Netanyahu's refusal to heed US demands to halt settlement activity. But Mr Netanyahu's aides say it was the prime minister who cancelled Thursday's meeting with George Mitchell in Paris. They said "more professional work" was needed, without adding further details. » Read more

PM: J'lem, US working on settlement deal ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Herb Keinon - June 24, 2009 - 12:00am Israel and the US are continuing to negotiate the parameters of a settlement construction freeze, diplomatic officials said Tuesday, soon after it was announced that a scheduled meeting Thursday in Paris between Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and US Middle East envoy George Mitchell to discuss the matter had been postponed. » Read more

Mitchell calls off meeting with Netanyahu ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Yitzhak Benhorin - June 24, 2009 - 12:00am The dispute between Jerusalem and Washington over the settlement issue continues in full force: Special US envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell has called off a meeting scheduled for Thursday in Paris with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the backdrop of the ongoing dispute over West Bank settlements. Defense Minister Ehud Barak is expected to leave for Washington for an unplanned meeting with Mitchell on Monday in order to mediate. The Prime Minister's Office. however, clarified Wednesday morning that Israel was the one to cancel the meeting. » Read more

Solving the Problem of the Old City ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Middle East Progress by Michael Bell - (Blog) June 23, 2009 - 12:00am Why is the issue of Jerusalem so central to resolving the Israeli-Palestinian and the broader Arab-Israeli conflict? » Read more

Egypt Intensifying Pressure For Lull ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Roee Nahmias - June 24, 2009 - 12:00am Egypt is leading an unprecedented effort to bring about an agreement on a lull and a prisoner exchange deal between Israel and Hamas and the other Palestinian factions, London-based Arabic-language newspaper al-Sharq al-Awsat reported Wednesday. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' scheduled visit to Cairo on Wednesday, and a visit to Israel by Egyptian Intelligence Minister Omar Suleiman's assistant, General Muhammad Ibrahim, were said to be part of this effort. » Read more

If anyone can handle Bibi’s curveball, it’s Mitchell ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Patrick Granfield - (Opinion) June 24, 2009 - 12:00am When George Mitchell, the US president Barack Obama’s special envoy to the Middle East, sits down with the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the sidelines of a summit in Paris tomorrow, there will be little fanfare – and that may suit Mr Mitchell. He has a reputation for being hard-nosed, but also for humility. He is discreet, understated and rarely departs from his boss’s game plan – virtues that a generation ago in America would have been associated with a “baseball man”. » Read more

On a mission to 'reclaim' Jerusalem ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Jazeera English by Jacky Rowland - June 24, 2009 - 12:00am Arye King is an Israeli settler on a self-appointed mission from God: to extend Jewish ownership over the whole of Jerusalem. Armed only with a crash helmet and a list of properties which, he says, belong to Jewish owners, he travels by motor scooter around the Jerusalem area, posting eviction orders against Palestinians who believe they are living lawfully in the disputed homes. On the day we join him, his mission takes him to Beit Zafafa, a Palestinian neighbourhood in the south of the city. » Read more

Fayyad irks Abbas allies with statehood speech ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Ali Sawafta - June 23, 2009 - 12:00am Critics accused Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad on Tuesday of exceeding his mandate and challenging President Mahmoud Abbas by declaring a goal of statehood within two years. Fayyad, a former IMF economist, is far from popular with many in the Fatah party, the dominant faction of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) which, led by Abbas, is the strongest political force in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. » Read more