November 16th

Clinton calls Netanyahu settlement plan 'promising' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters November 15, 2010 - 1:00am WASHINGTON, Nov 15 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Monday praised Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plan to extend a freeze on West Bank settlements for 90 days in return for diplomatic and security incentives. "This is a very promising development and a serious effort by Prime Minister Netanyahu," Clinton said, declining comment on the details of his plan but stressing that the United States was in close contact with Israeli and Palestinian officials.

U.S. suggests Mideast deadline may be slipping ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters November 15, 2010 - 1:00am WASHINGTON, Nov 15 (Reuters) - The U.S. target to resolve all major issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by August 2011 may be slipping, the State Department said on Monday. Israel and the Palestinians resumed peace negotiations in Washington on Sept. 2 only to see these unravel within weeks after Israel's 10-month partial moratorium on Jewish settlement construction expired that month. » Read more

U.S. suggests Mideast deadline may be slipping ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters November 15, 2010 - 1:00am WASHINGTON, Nov 15 (Reuters) - The U.S. target to resolve all major issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by August 2011 may be slipping, the State Department said on Monday. Israel and the Palestinians resumed peace negotiations in Washington on Sept. 2 only to see these unravel within weeks after Israel's 10-month partial moratorium on Jewish settlement construction expired that month. » Read more

Arab League likely to reject partial 90-day freeze ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency November 15, 2010 - 1:00am CAIRO (DPA) -- A possible 90-day temporary freeze on construction at Israeli West Bank settlements, proposed by the US, may not be enough to prompt Palestinian and Arab support for renewing Middle East peace talks, an Arab League official said Monday. In Israel, meanwhile, ministers jockeyed to take positions for and against the proposal, which reportedly has not yet been finalized and will not be bought before Israeli decision-making bodies until it is. » Read more

The Price of Success ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy by Aaron David Miller - (Analysis) November 15, 2010 - 1:00am After 20 months, Barack Obama's administration may be close to injecting some much-needed stability into the on-again, off-again Israeli-Palestinian peace process. The deal concluded last week in New York between Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu -- if it gets through the Israeli cabinet and the Palestinians -- should allow the negotiations to resume in the wake of a three-month moratorium on settlements. But as I've written before, the administration shouldn't pray for anything it really doesn't want and isn't prepared for. » Read more

Israeli-Palestinian clashes over olive groves feed distrust ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Joshua Mitnick - November 15, 2010 - 1:00am Farata, West Bank When the olive harvest began in the West Bank this fall, Ibrahim Salah found his 200 trees already stripped of their fruit by someone else. Days later, about one-fourth of the trees were set ablaze. » Read more

Netanyahu strikes a deal on Israeli settlements – could it freeze peace, too? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Joshua Mitnick - November 5, 2010 - 12:00am Tel Aviv Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, long caught between intensifying US demands and the restlessness of his right-wing allies, appears to have struck a deal to delay Israeli settlement expansion without unsettling his government. Mr. Netanyahu's security cabinet is expected to narrowly approve a three-month Israeli settlement freeze in the West Bank, in exchange for US promises of $3 billion in military aid and a commitment not to support any United Nations resolution recognizing Palestinian sovereignty. » Read more

Former Israeli soldier seeks to shine a light on Hebron ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Edmund Sanders - November 16, 2010 - 1:00am Reporting from Hebron, West Bank — Prepare to be pelted with eggs, the tour guide warns. Or maybe it will be rocks, bricks or spit wads. The projectiles, guide Yehuda Shaul says, are courtesy of angry Jewish settlers opposed to his group, Breaking the Silence, which brings outsiders to the hotly disputed West Bank city of Hebron every week as part of an effort to expose what it considers military misconduct toward Palestinians. From the moment the former Israeli soldier-turned-military-whistle-blower arrives, Shaul's movements are tracked. » Read more

Analysis: U.S. pinning its Mideast hopes on 90-day settlement freeze ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Glenn Kessler - (Analysis) November 15, 2010 - 1:00am Call it a triumph of hope over experience. When Israel agreed to a 10-month partial settlement freeze last year, U.S. officials said it was exactly what they needed to get talks with the Palestinians started. They whispered that they were sure the freeze would be extended; Israel wouldn't dare curtail the negotiations by ending it. » Read more

Analysis: U.S. pinning its Mideast hopes on 90-day settlement freeze ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Glenn Kessler - (Opinion) November 15, 2010 - 1:00am Call it a triumph of hope over experience. When Israel agreed to a 10-month partial settlement freeze last year, U.S. officials said it was exactly what they needed to get talks with the Palestinians started. They whispered that they were sure the freeze would be extended; Israel wouldn't dare curtail the negotiations by ending it. » Read more