Former Mossad chief: Attempts to thwart PNA's statehood bid to backfire ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua May 26, 2011 - 12:00am Israel should cease its efforts to prevent a possible United Nations General Assembly resolution in September recognizing a Palestinian state, former Mossad chief Meir Dagan has said. "Israel will be mistaken to attempt to block 'the September move' and the UN's expected recognition of a Palestinian state," local daily Ma'ariv on Thursday quoted Dagan as saying during a closed forum at the Herzliya Interdisciplinary Center. » Read more

Netanyahu's U.S. trip helps strengthen hardline coalition in Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua by Adam Gonn - May 27, 2011 - 12:00am When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned from a weeklong trip to the United States, he did so as a winner, both in his own eyes and the Israeli public's. "We found wide American support for Israel's basic demands," Netanyahu said Wednesday at a press conference after landing in Israel. According to a Dialog institute poll released on Thursday, 47 percent of the Israeli public believes Netanyahu's U.S. trip was a success, while only 10 percent viewed it as a failure. » Read more

Israel struggles to stop weapons smuggling at sea ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Aron Heller - May 27, 2011 - 12:00am Israel's navy is casting its net wider and deeper in an effort to stop Gaza militants from receiving weapons by sea, a difficult mission made harder, Israel says, by political turmoil in Egypt and the Egyptian decision to fully reopen its border crossing with Gaza. In recent weeks, Palestinian militants in Hamas-ruled Gaza have aimed rockets at Israeli cities, far enough away that Israel is convinced the projectiles came from abroad, probably Iran. » Read more

Extremists could step into Mideast peace vacuum-Blair ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Adrian Croft - May 26, 2011 - 12:00am Extremists will gain the upper hand unless Israeli-Palestinian negotiations are revived, Middle East envoy Tony Blair said on Thursday, warning that time was running out to get the peace process moving. Talks brokered by Washington collapsed last year when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refused to extend a moratorium on new building in Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank. Netanyahu told U.S. President Barack Obama last week that his vision of how to achieve Middle East peace was unrealistic, exposing a divide that could doom any U.S. bid to restart the talks. » Read more

Obama Walking a Fine Line on Borders Issue ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Institute for Near East Policy by Robert Satloff - May 24, 2011 - 12:00am One week ago, on May 19, President Barack Obama delivered powerful remarks on democracy and reform in the Middle East. He not only raised these normally hortatory ideals to top-tier U.S. interests, but he put the dictator of America's most dangerous Arab antagonist -- Syria's Bashar Assad -- on personal notice that he may soon find himself joining the leaders of Egypt and Tunisia in forced retirement. All this was welcome news. » Read more

Words vs. reality in Middle East ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Politico by William Quandt - May 25, 2011 - 12:00am The week of speechifying about the Middle East has blessedly come to an end. The refrain from “My Fair Lady’s” Eliza Doolittle keeps popping into my head: “words, words, words, I’m so sick of words.” But sometimes words reveal important changes in views. So let’s take a closer look. President Barack Obama seemed intent upon doing several things in his two speeches — one at the State Department last Thursday and one before the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee on Sunday. » Read more

Should the Palestinians Recognize Israel as a Jewish State? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy by Hussein Ibish - (Opinion) May 25, 2011 - 12:00am Most observers expected Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to target his harshest criticisms of the Palestinians during his U.S. trip on the Hamas-Fatah agreement. Surprisingly, his most important talking point turned out to be his demand for Palestinian recognition of Israel as a "Jewish state." To be sure, Netanyahu took every opportunity to denounce the Palestinian unity deal, compare Hamas to al Qaeda, and point out that some of its leaders had praised Osama bin Laden. » Read more

What Obama did to Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Charles Krauthammer - (Opinion) May 26, 2011 - 12:00am Every Arab-Israeli negotiation contains a fundamental asymmetry: Israel gives up land, which is tangible; the Arabs make promises, which are ephemeral. The long-standing American solution has been to nonetheless urge Israel to take risks for peace while America balances things by giving assurances of U.S. support for Israel’s security and diplomatic needs. » Read more

The Mideast Peace Process: No Plan for Talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times (Editorial) May 26, 2011 - 12:00am This is the time for bold ideas to salvage Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel did not seize it. In his address to Congress, he showed — once again — that he has no serious appetite for the kind of compromises that are the only way to forge a two-state solution and guarantee both Palestinians their long-denied state and Israel’s long-term security. » Read more

Egypt to Open Border With Gaza, in the Face of Israeli Objections ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by David Kirkpatrick - May 25, 2011 - 12:00am Egypt will permanently open its border with the Gaza Strip on Saturday despite Israeli protests, Egypt’s transitional government confirmed Wednesday, upending the dynamics of regional politics in a bid to shake up the deadlocked peace process and better respond to Egyptian public opinion. The opening of the border will be the latest geopolitical aftershock of the Egyptian revolution, and it is likely to strengthen the militant group Hamas, while easing life for 1.6 million residents. » Read more