November 17th

Israeli official says US should free convicted spy ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman November 17, 2010 - 1:00am Israel's former attorney general says mistakes were made by both sides in the case of convicted spy Jonathan Pollard and that Israel's government should push the U.S. to free him. Elyakim Rubinstein did not go into detail about what he meant by mistakes. He made the remarks at a conference this week and they were broadcast by Israeli media Tuesday. Pollard was a civilian intelligence analyst for the U.S. Navy when he was arrested by FBI agents in Washington in 1985. He pleaded guilty to passing secrets to Israel and received a life sentence. » Read more

Israel, US locked over deal to revive peace talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman by Amy Teibel - November 17, 2010 - 1:00am Israel and the United States were in a standoff Wednesday over the terms of a Washington-proposed settlement construction moratorium meant to revive Mideast peace talks. Israeli officials had said several days ago that the U.S. had agreed that the 90-day moratorium would be the last time Israel would be asked to renew building limitations that expired in late September, after 10 months. They also said the renewal — like the earlier moratorium — would not apply to disputed east Jerusalem, the Palestinians' hoped-for capital. » Read more

Israel demands written US guarantees before freeze ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Alternet November 17, 2010 - 1:00am Israel has demanded the United States provide written security guarantees before it votes on whether to agree to freeze Jewish settlement building in the West Bank, an Israeli political source said on Tuesday. The source added that Palestinian opposition to some of the pledges that Washington has verbally offered Israel was delaying progress towards finalising U.S. proposals for resuming the stalled Middle East peace talks.

Israel: New planning policy for East Jerusalem ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency November 17, 2010 - 1:00am Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat presented a controversial new city planning policy for East Jerusalem to the public on Tuesday morning, as East Jerusalemites celebrated Eid Al-Adha with friends and family. The re-zoning plan, according to a statement from the mayor's office, would take into account the "current unsatisfactory situation" and call for a freeze on all current demolition orders until the plan is approved and can go forward. The plan would have to be approved by the government of Israel before it could go ahead. » Read more

US official to brief PA on talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency November 17, 2010 - 1:00am A senior US official will brief Palestinian leaders in Ramallah on Thursday about the latest developments in efforts to renew direct talks with Israel. Chief negotiator Saeb Erekat told Israeli radio that David Hale, a deputy to US Mideast envoy George Mitchell, would deliver "details and suggestions" in his briefing. He added that President Abbas would review Hale's suggestions with the PLO and Fatah, and with the leaders of Arab states. » Read more

PA says it foiled Hamas plot to kill governor ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency November 17, 2010 - 1:00am Palestinian Authority forces arrested Hamas members who were plotting to kill the governor of the West Bank city of Nablus, Jibrin Al-Bakri, PA officials claimed Wednesday. The officials, who declined to be identified, said the group that hatched the alleged plot was based in Nablus with a network extending throughout the northern West Bank. PA forces raided the group's headquarters, seizing weapons and cash, they said. The group were said to be members of Hamas' armed wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, who were in direct contact with the Hamas-run government in Gaza. » Read more

U.S. needs more than short-term dealmaking to aid Mideast talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post (Editorial) November 17, 2010 - 1:00am PERSISTENCE IN the face of setbacks is a necessity in Middle East peace diplomacy. But the Obama administration's efforts to restart Israeli-Palestinian talks are less evocative of true grit than of desperate improvisation. According to reports in the Israeli press, the administration has now offered the government of Binyamin Netanyahu a gold-plated menu of incentives, including $3 billion worth of F-35 warplanes, in exchange for a 90-day renewal of a partial moratorium on West Bank settlement construction. » Read more

Israeli officials say time growing short for West Bank peace deal ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Janine Zacharia - November 17, 2010 - 1:00am JERUSALEM - Israeli intelligence and military officials have warned in recent days that if a peace deal isn't achieved soon the moderate Palestinian leadership in the West Bank could collapse and give way to more radical Hamas militants, backed by Iran and Syria, who already rule the Gaza Strip. The warnings come as the United States makes a last-ditch effort to revive talks between Israel and the Palestinians that stalled almost as soon as they resumed in September. » Read more

An Israeli Novelist Writes of Pain, Private and Public ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Ethan Bronner - (Book Review) November 17, 2010 - 1:00am MEVASSERET ZION, Israel — In the middle of David Grossman’s latest novel, “To the End of the Land,” now out in English, the main character, a middle-aged Israeli Everywoman named Ora whose son has gone off to battle with the Israeli Army, stands with her ex-lover atop Mount Meron in northern Israel and looks out at the Hula Valley. » Read more

November 16th

Israeli actions jeopardize two-state solution ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Hanan Ashrawi - (Opinion) November 16, 2010 - 1:00am The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has reached a critical stage. For more than two decades, the two-state solution has been the basis of international efforts to make peace in the region. Yet the Israeli government's refusal to cease settlement construction in the occupied Palestinian West Bank and East Jerusalem will shortly render the creation of a territorially contiguous and viable Palestinian state impossible. » Read more