Peace talks require good faith ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News by Adel Safty - May 3, 2010 - 12:00am Last week, the Israeli press reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a Cabinet meeting, following his talks with US Middle East envoy George Mitchell, that Israel and the United States want to "begin a peace process immediately", and without any preconditions. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Friday that Israel and the Palestinians were to begin indirect peace talks this week, with the expectation that these proximity talks would lead to direct negotiations in due course. » Read more

Israel’s Arab MPs face backlash over Libya visit ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Jonathan Cook - May 1, 2010 - 12:00am Six Arab members of the Israeli parliament returned last week from a visit to Libya at the personal invitation of its leader, Muammer Qadafi, to a storm of protest in Israel, including threats to prosecute them and bar them from standing in future elections. The delegation of 39 public figures from Israel’s Arab minority, who were flown to Tripoli on Mr Qadafi’s private plane last weekend, had requested the visit in the hope of breaking their isolation in the Arab world. » Read more

New Mossad rep not welcome in London ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Itamar Eichner - May 4, 2010 - 12:00am month-and-a-half after the United Kingdom expelled the Mossad representative in London over Israel's alleged forging of UK passports used in the assassination of Hamas man Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai, Britain refuses to allow a new representative to enter the country, Yedioth Ahronoth has learned. The paper reported on Tuesday that London's refusal to accept a new Mossad rep comes despite prior understandings between the two countries, according to which the UK would allow a new representative to take the place of the one that was expelled. » Read more

Four years after eviction, Amona settlers are building anew ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Akiva Eldar - May 4, 2010 - 12:00am Evacuating the outposts does not appear to be high on the national agenda Next Independence Day it would be appropriate to award the Israel Prize for lifetime achievement and exceptional contribution to the nation to the State Prosecutor's Office. The creativity its people have shown for the sake of the West Bank settlement project knows no bounds. Especially not the boundaries of the Green Line, the pre-Six-Day War border. » Read more

MESS Report / Hamas fears economic crisis could spark uprising ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Amos Harel, Avi Issacharoff - May 4, 2010 - 12:00am It turns out that not only Greece and Spain are suffering economic hardship. The Hamas leadership in the Gaza Strip is facing a severe economic crisis due to the dwindling foreign assistance the organization normally relies on. The financial distress is raising concern among Hamas leaders that they may not be able to withstand the increasing public pressure, which could lead to a popular uprising against the government. » Read more

MI: Abbas laying the groundwork for failure of proximity talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Jonathan Lis - May 4, 2010 - 12:00am Military Intelligence research division chief Brigadier General Yossi Baidatz on Tuesday presented a bleak forecast for the opening of a negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. "[PA President Mahmoud] Abbas' goal is to expose Israel's true face and show that we do not want peace," Baidatz told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, adding that "Abbas is interested in an agreement with Israel, but his leeway on the core issues is limited." » Read more

Jewish settlers blamed for West Bank mosque fire ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Mohammed Assadi - May 4, 2010 - 12:00am Palestinians accused Jewish settlers of setting fire to a mosque in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, an incident that raised tensions as a U.S. envoy began a mission to get peace talks going. Israeli security officers were at the scene investigating the fire but have not determined its cause. Evidence was taken for forensic examination, an Israeli police spokesman said. The mosque in the village of Libban al-Sharqia, near the Palestinian city of Nablus, was gutted overnight by the blaze that also burned holy books. » Read more

Israel mulls wider Palestinian control in West Bank ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Allyn Fisher-Ilan - May 4, 2010 - 12:00am Israel is considering handing over security responsibilities to Palestinians in additional West Bank towns under U.S.-backed plans for resuming peace talks, Israeli and Palestinian security sources said. The sources named Abu Dis, a town at the edge of Jerusalem once seen as a possible Palestinian seat of government, as one of the more significant sites where Israel is weighing whether to soon permit armed Palestinian police to patrol. » Read more

Government backs settlement goods ban ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency May 4, 2010 - 12:00am Following Israeli complaints about the Palestinian Authority ban on settlement goods in the West Bank, the Government Media Center issued a statement confirming that the "campaign is implementing the rule of law." In the statement, PA officials reiterated their commitment to "all economic agreements with Israel," but said authorities would not back down from efforts to replace the "illegal products of Israel’s settlement [with] legal Palestinian and other imported products." » Read more

PA security officials detained in Jerusalem ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency May 4, 2010 - 12:00am Israeli forces detained seven Palestinian locals from several neighborhoods in Jerusalem on Tuesday at dawn, after they were accused of affiliation to the Palestinian Authority security forces. The seven detainees were at an Israeli court in Jerusalem on Tuesday afternoon, and are accused of affiliation to PA security. They were expected to be detained for nine days, but attorney Saleh Ayoub sought a shorter remand. » Read more