Turkey warns Israel against repeating 'flotilla mistake' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews April 26, 2011 - 12:00am Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu warned Israel against repeating "the same mistake" ahead of the Gaza-bound flotilla scheduled to set sail next month. In an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald, Davutoglu added that "It is Israel's responsibility not to implement (a blockade) against Gaza. A fact-finding mission of the UN declared that this … is illegal." The Turkish foreign minister further added: ''In the flotilla last year, people were killed 72 miles (116 kilometres) from the coast, so this was in international waters. The Mediterranean does not belong to any nation.'' » Read more

Obama urges Erdogan to improve relations with Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews April 26, 2011 - 12:00am US President Barack Obama spoke to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday and expressed his hope that Turkey and Israel will find opportunities to improve their relations in the interest of regional stability. The White House issued a statement saying the two leaders discussed recent developments in the Middle East. According to the statement Obama and Erdogan expressed their deep concern about the Syrian government’s unacceptable use of violence against its own people. » Read more

Trouble brewing between Palestinians and Israelis ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Amos Harel, Avi Issacharoff - April 26, 2011 - 12:00am As late as 5 A.M. Sunday, a Givati Brigade battalion still had guards stationed at the entrance to Nablus to keep Jews seeking to pray at Joseph's Tomb from approaching the area without making arrangements first. About half an hour after the forces left, a group of Hasidim broke into the city, which led to the incident that ended in the killing of Ben-Yosef Livnat by a Palestinian policeman. » Read more

'Hamas delegation is in Cairo to discuss Schalit' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post April 26, 2011 - 12:00am A Hamas delegation traveled to Cairo on Tuesday in order to discuss the release of captive IDF soldier Gilad Schalit, Israel Radio reported. A Palestnian source told Israel Radio that the possible reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah will be the main topic of discussion at the meeting, but Schalit is also on the agenda. The delegation reportedly includes one of Hamas's leaders, Mahmoud Zahar, as well as two members of the negotiating team for Schalit, Halil el Haya and Nizar Awdallah. » Read more

Poll: Most Egyptians favor annulling peace with Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Lahav Harkov - April 26, 2011 - 12:00am Most Egyptians are in favor of annulling a peace treaty with Israel, according to a Pew Research Center poll released on Monday. The US-based think tank polled 1,000 adults throughout Egypt between March 24 and April 7, finding that only 36 percent would maintain peace. The percentage of Egyptians who support annulling the treaty (54%) does not vary amongst those who sympathize with Islamic fundamentalists and those who do not. However, those with lower incomes are less likely to support the peace with Israel than those with higher incomes. » Read more

What Obama can learn from Israel's peace with Egypt ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Amir Oren - (Opinion) April 26, 2011 - 12:00am He was present during the secret talks between Richard Nixon, Golda Meir, Henry Kissinger and Yitzhak Rabin, before and after the Yom Kippur War. He witnessed Israel's plight in October 1973, when it desperately needed military equipment and a cease-fire even at the price of an Egyptian victory. He heard from Kissinger that Jordan's King Hussein was prepared to accept the Allon Plan but only if "the mosques and another street" in Jerusalem were thrown in. In November 2008, immediately after Barack Obama was elected U.S. » Read more

Encountering Peace: Imposed peace plans will not work ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Gershon Baskin - (Opinion) April 25, 2011 - 12:00am First came the Caesarea conferences on Israel’s economic policies and plans run by the Israel Democracy Institute where ministers and Bank of Israel officials came to deliver high-profile speeches on the future of our economic welfare. Then came the Herzliya conferences to which prime ministers, foreign ministers, chiefs of staff and others leaders from the security military establishment presented their views and policy plans. » Read more

Why the Israeli-Palestinian conflict refuses to be resolved ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by A.B. Yehoshua - (Opinion) April 26, 2011 - 12:00am The question in the headline should ostensibly be directed to a Middle East expert, a political scientist, or even a foreign historian, not a writer whose expertise is his imagination. But because the question is a real one that is painful to everyone in the region regardless of his nationality, I will try to propose an answer. » Read more

Peres hands Obama letter from Pollard ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) April 26, 2011 - 12:00am Israeli President Shimon Peres handed President Obama a letter from Jonathan Pollard pleading for his release. "I write to implore you, Mr. President, in the wake of numerous calls by senior American officials urging you to commute my sentence to time served, and in light of the official request by Prime Minister Netanyahu, to please send me home to Israel now, in time to celebrate my first Passover in freedom in 26 years," said the April 1 letter, Pollard's first direct communication with an American president. » Read more

Peres hands Obama letter from Pollard ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) April 26, 2011 - 12:00am Israeli President Shimon Peres handed President Obama a letter from Jonathan Pollard pleading for his release. "I write to implore you, Mr. President, in the wake of numerous calls by senior American officials urging you to commute my sentence to time served, and in light of the official request by Prime Minister Netanyahu, to please send me home to Israel now, in time to celebrate my first Passover in freedom in 26 years," said the April 1 letter, Pollard's first direct communication with an American president. » Read more