January 6th

IDF to seek legal advice during future conflicts ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Anshel Pfeffer - (Analysis) January 6, 2010 - 1:00am IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi has issued an order requiring the Israel Defense Forces to consult with the army's legal advisers while military operations are underway and not just when they are being planned. Ashkenazi imposed the stricter regulations despite opposition by several commanders, including members of the General Staff. » Read more

Fayyad: PA will clear West Bank of settlement products ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency (Editorial) January 6, 2010 - 1:00am Salfit – Ma'an – Before tossing goods made in Israeli settlements into a fire on Tuesday, Prime Minister Salam Fayyad affirmed the dedication of the Palestinian Authority to ridding local markets of the goods, and ridding the West Bank of the settlements entirely. The products being tossed were all found in the Salfit municipality, southeast of Nablus. They were found on trucks and in shops in the district, and would have been for sale to Palestinians. Much of the time goods from settlements are discounted or spoiled. » Read more

Restarting Mideast Peace Talks: Back to the Treadmill? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Time by Tony Karon - (Opinion) January 6, 2010 - 1:00am The Middle East peace process is a lot like a daytime TV soap opera — it has repeated the same dramatic formula for two decades and looks set to continue in the same vein, never reaching a denouement. Word from the region ahead of next week's visit by the Obama Administration's special envoy, the retired Senator George Mitchell, is that the U.S. plans to restart Israeli-Palestinian talks on a two-year deadline for the creation of a Palestinian state. That time frame was immediately dismissed as unrealistic by Israel's Foreign Minister. Skeptics might remember that President George W. » Read more

Fresh US push for Mideast peace: 'More like jazz than chess' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Joshua Mitnick - (Analysis) January 5, 2010 - 1:00am Tel Aviv The US is launching a fresh diplomatic push to renew Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, this time with the help of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak as a go-between. Top officials have held a flurry of high-level meetings in Egypt this week. But Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is digging in his heels for a full freeze on Jewish settlement activity in the West Bank before restarting negotiations. Israel is balking at agreeing to a deadline for a peace deal. » Read more

January 5th

State official: Some of Abbas' statements positive ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Roni Sofer - (Analysis) January 5, 2010 - 1:00am An official at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem said Monday night that some of the remarks made by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas earlier in the day included "positive statements in regards to restarting the negotiations." The official added, however, that until Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit and Intelligence Minister Omar Suleiman return from Washington, it is unclear when the peace talks would be launched, although there is a possibility that the negotiations could begin by the end of January. » Read more

Why I back Israel sanctions ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Udi Aloni - (Opinion) January 5, 2010 - 1:00am I find it appropriate that the Israeli public be notified of the emerging movement for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel (BDS), which has been growing at a breathtaking pace. Following bewildered reports published by Yedioth Ahronoth journalist Sever Plocker, who noticed that BDS has moved from the circles of the radical western Left to the circles of the bourgeois centre, I can add that this is now true for Israel-loving Jews as well. » Read more

Yeshiva in Mount of Olives to get 24 more housing units ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Ronen Medzini - (Analysis) January 5, 2010 - 1:00am Israel continues with east Jerusalem construction despite international censures. Jerusalem's Planning and Construction Committee decided Monday to authorize the establishment of a new Jewish neighborhood in the a-Tur area as an extension of the Beit Orot yeshiva which includes several caravans. According to the plan, four residential buildings are to be built on the site and accommodate 24 Jewish families. » Read more

Gov't opposes 'borders first' approach ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Khaled Abu Toameh, Herb Keinon - January 5, 2010 - 1:00am Israel's top decision-makers are against discussing the border issue first in future negotiations with the Palestinians, The Jerusalem Post has learned. PM prepared to start immediate talks with PA without preconditions Separating final borders from other core issues would allow negotiators to avoid the thorny settlement construction dispute. » Read more

Free Barghouti Now ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Bradley Burston - (Opinion) January 4, 2010 - 1:00am It's a spellbinding opal of a Saturday afternoon in winter. A number of close friends are tackling the Haaretz weekend quiz, the Hebrew edition of 20 maddeningly arcane and demanding questions. They manage to get 16 right. No small feat. The talk then turns to Israeli politics. At last, the question is a simple one. If there were an election now, who would get your vote? There are 10 people present. Not one of them manages to come up with a single answer. » Read more

A new freezing point ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Shaul Arieli - (Opinion) January 5, 2010 - 1:00am Israel's political and unilateral moves in the past decade have shown that its position on the borders with the Palestinians is divorced from the requirements of security, water supply and infrastructure. They are dictated by one factor alone: the settlements. Israeli prime ministers, only too aware of their domestic political weakness, want to avoid any significant evacuation of settlers. » Read more