September 25th

Toward peace in the Middle East ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Aaron David Miller - (Analysis) September 25, 2009 - 12:00am Watching Tuesday's three-way meeting in New York between President Obama, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas -- and the administration's effort to spin it into a success -- reminded me that when breakthroughs in Arab-Israeli peacemaking come, they come with unforeseen and unpredictable urgency driven by big men and big events. » Read more

Palestinians rule out talks until total settlement freeze ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Financial Times by Harvey Morris - September 25, 2009 - 12:00am The Palestinian leadership yesterday ruled out a future meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister, unless he met demands for a total freeze on Jewish settlements, in a setback for President Barack Obama's troubled efforts to relaunch peace negotiations. Riyad al-Maliki, the Palestinian Authority foreign minister, told reporters: "No one is talking about a new meeting" between Mr Netanyahu and Mahmoud Abbas, the PA president. » Read more

U.S. officials: Middle East talks on track ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Politico by Laura Rozen, Ben Smith - September 25, 2009 - 12:00am Reacting to the tepid response to this week's attempt by President Obama to jumpstart negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, two senior U.S. officials made the case Thursday that critics are obsessing over marginal obstacles while the sides move slowly but surely toward the negotiating table. » Read more

Palestinians want peace deal but don't reject Hamas ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters September 25, 2009 - 12:00am Most Palestinians who want a state of their own would like to achieve it through a peace deal with Israel but there is still substantial support for the Islamist Hamas group which favors resistance, according to a new opinion poll. The survey by New York pollsters Charney research for the New York-based International Peace Institute (IPI) was carried out over the summer in Gaza, where Hamas rules, and the Israeli-occupied West Bank, under the authority of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and his Fatah movement. » Read more

IPI Poll: Palestinians Support 2-State Peace Plan, Fatah, Abbas ATFP World Press Roundup Article from International Peace Institute September 24, 2009 - 12:00am The poll reveals major changes in attitudes since 2000, when Palestinians rejected compromises proposed at the Camp David summit with Israel, and the 2006 Palestinian elections, when Fatah was defeated by the Islamist Hamas party. » Read more

September 24th

No shortcuts to statehood ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews (Opinion) September 24, 2009 - 12:00am There may be something new under the sun after all – at least since the days when Balfour promised the Jews a National Home in Palestine and Trygve Lie oversaw the UN General Assembly's endorsement of the partition of Palestine. » Read more

Obama says settlement building illegitimate ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews September 23, 2009 - 12:00am S President Barack Obama said Wednesday that the time has come to relaunch negotiations toward the long-elusive goal of Mideast peace. In a speech to the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Obama said it was time for talks without preconditions to resolve disagreements on security for Israelis and Palestinians, borders, refugees and the status of Jerusalem itself. The president said the goal was clear: "Two states living side by side in peace and security." He said resolving the Mideast issue was essential to promoting a future of peace and prosperity. » Read more

US official: Settlements preventing normalization ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Yitzhak Benhorin - September 24, 2009 - 12:00am A US official held a meeting with Jewish leaders Wednesday and told them that Israel's failure to achieve normalization with Arab countries was largely due to its approval of 450 more housing units in West Bank settlements. He said the Israeli government had known that the Arab nations may recoil at the announcement, but had approved the construction anyway. » Read more

More Than Just a Photo-Op ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy by Daniel Levy - (Analysis) September 24, 2009 - 12:00am Headlines are now being prepared following U.S. President Barack Obama's convening of a trilateral Israeli-Palestinian-American peace summit today in New York. Many will seek to belittle the president's efforts thus far. The summit was being dismissed as a photo-op before it even happened. » Read more

Netanyahu: No peace until Palestinians accept Israel as Jewish state ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Natasha Mozgovaya - September 24, 2009 - 12:00am Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Haaretz on Wednesday that he would not agree to a Palestinian demand that Israel accept the 1967 borders as a condition for renewing peace negotiations. Netanyahu also gave a condition of his own, saying Thursday that he would never drop his demand that the Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish state. "I told Abu Mazen [Abbas] I believe peace hinges first on his readiness to stand before his people and say, 'We ... are committed to recognizing Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people'," Netanyahu said. » Read more