March 16th

Police chief: Jerusalem violence won't spark third Intifada ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Fadi Eyadat, Jack Khoury, Liel Kyzer - March 16, 2010 - 12:00am Police Commissioner David Cohen on Tuesday toured Jerusalem's Old City after clashes between Palestinians and Israeli security forces, and said he did not believe the recent violence would spark a third intifada. Dozens of Palestinians clashed with Israeli police in East Jerusalem after Hamas declared a "day of rage" to protest Israel's consecration of an ancient synagogue in the city one day earlier. Palestinians hurled stones at police and burned tires and trash bins in several areas of East Jerusalem, which Israel captured along with the West Bank during the 1967 Six-Day War. » Read more

U.S.-Israel flap: What comes next? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Politico by Laura Rozen, Ben Smith - (Opinion) March 15, 2010 - 12:00am Bibi can hear us now. A drumbeat of angry statements from senior administration officials has produced a domestic crisis for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and a sense of crisis in the U.S.-Israel relationship. The unusually angry words from Cabinet members and top White House officials – including “insult” and “affront” – were a rare public display of unresolved tensions over the question of settlements and what some U.S. officials see as Netanyahu’s attempts to sabotage a peace process. » Read more

Israel's Netanyahu says Jewish building in East Jerusalem "in no way" hurts Palestinians ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman March 15, 2010 - 12:00am JERUSALEM — Israel's Netanyahu says Jewish building in east Jerusalem "in no way" hurts Palestinians. ___ March 15, 2010 10:36 AM EDT Copyright 2010, The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Israeli troops wound 7 Palestinians-medics ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Saed Hawari - March 15, 2010 - 12:00am * Palestinian protesters clash with Israeli troops * Senior Palestinian politician warns of new Intifada (Adds Qurie quotes) By Saed Hawari ATARA, West Bank, March 15 (Reuters) - Israeli troops wounded at least seven Palestinians during a confrontation in the West Bank on Monday, Palestinian medical sources said, and a senior Palestinian politician said a new Intifada could break out. Palestinian witnesses and medics said soldiers had fired live rounds at the demonstrators but the Israeli military denied this, saying other measures to disperse the crowd were used. » Read more

Mitchell Mideast travel in flux amid US-Israel row ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Arshad Mohammed - March 15, 2010 - 12:00am * Housing announcement has strained U.S.-Israel ties * Some lawmakers rebuke U.S. criticism of Israel By Arshad Mohammed WASHINGTON, March 15 (Reuters) - A U.S. envoy's plans to visit the Middle East were up in the air on Monday, the State Department said, as it waited for Israel to respond to U.S. demands it show that it is serious about peace talks with the Palestinians. » Read more

PA condemns settlements, child detentions ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency March 16, 2010 - 12:00am Ramallah – Ma'an – During its weekly cabinet meeting on Monday, the Palestinian Authority condemned Israeli settlement expansion in Jerusalem and the West Bank. The cabinet said it welcomed the US, EU and Quartet's stance against the announcement that 1,600 Israeli-only homes are to be built in occupied East Jerusalem, further calling on Israel to revoke its decision. » Read more

Israel rejects U.S. calls to halt East Jerusalem plan ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Paul Richter, Edmund Sanders - March 16, 2010 - 12:00am Reporting from Washington and Jerusalem A day after trying to ease tensions, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday rejected U.S. demands to end the construction of new housing units in disputed East Jerusalem, leaving the two allies in the middle of an increasingly uncomfortable diplomatic feud. The United States wants Netanyahu to order a halt to the construction and make a gesture to Palestinians that could help lead to peace negotiations. » Read more

The U.S. quarrel with Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post (Editorial) March 16, 2010 - 12:00am PRESIDENT OBAMA'S Middle East diplomacy failed in his first year in part because he chose to engage in an unnecessary and unwinnable public confrontation with Israel over Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Jerusalem. Over the past six months Mr. Obama's envoys gingerly retreated from that fight and worked to build better relations with the government of Binyamin Netanyahu. Last week the administration finally managed to strike a deal for the launching of indirect Israeli-Palestinian talks. So it has been startling -- and a little puzzling -- to see Mr. » Read more

U.S. pushing Netanyahu to accept demands for peace talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Glenn Kessler - March 16, 2010 - 12:00am In an effort to get peace talks back on track, the Obama administration is pressing Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to reverse last week's approval of 1,600 housing units in a disputed area of Jerusalem, make a substantial gesture toward the Palestinians, and publicly declare that all of the "core issues" in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including the status of Jerusalem, be included in upcoming talks, U.S. officials said. » Read more

The Biden Effect ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Roger Cohen - (Opinion) March 15, 2010 - 12:00am NEW YORK — I’m tempted to see Vice President Joe Biden’s visit to Israel as a parable: Nice guy wanders into mess and truth is revealed. We’ve had, for example, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu clarifying the fact that, “Israel and the U.S. have mutual interests, but we will act according to the vital interests of the state of Israel.” Of course, the United States, too, has “vital interests.” They include reaching a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine for which the physical space erodes daily as Israeli settlements in the West Bank expand. » Read more