After Years Of Clashes, Mofaz And Netanyahu Agree On Iran ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'ariv by Eli Brandstein - (Opinion) May 10, 2012 - 12:00am In the three meetings Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held with Kadima chairman Shaul Mofaz on May 7, the two discussed at length the issue of Iran's nuclear program. Netanyahu sought to clarify whether Mofaz supported his policy on the issue and his position on the way to stop the Iranian race toward a nuclear bomb. » Read more

Informal talks still have a role ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons by Ghassan Khatib - (Opinion) May 14, 2012 - 12:00am "Track II" or informal diplomacy played its most significant and constructive role in the history of Israeli-Palestinian relations prior to the Oslo breakthrough when the Palestine Liberation Organization started direct negotiations with the Israeli government. The reason track II talks flourished at that time--the late eighties and early nineties--was that Israel was refusing to deal directly with the Palestinian leadership. » Read more

Sadly, nothing left to talk about ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons by Yossi Alpher - (Opinion) May 14, 2012 - 12:00am A few weeks ago, after much soul-searching, I reluctantly accepted an invitation to a meeting about the peace process with Palestinian colleagues, held under the auspices of a veteran third-party convener who is truly dedicated to the cause of Israeli-Palestinian understanding and reconciliation. I have been turning down such invitations regularly for several years now, ever since concluding that the meetings had become pointless and were not worth the price I would pay in pure frustration. » Read more

In their hunger, Palestinian strikers are acquiring names ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Egypt Independent by Sharif S. Elmusa - May 12, 2012 - 12:00am With the hunger strike of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel gathering momentum, I wanted to know names, look closely at faces, read biographies. » Read more

Settlements, Palestinian Style ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'ariv by Amihai Attali - (Opinion) May 10, 2012 - 12:00am Several weeks before Passover 2011, a factory in the industrial area of Mishor Adumim received an unusual request: a Palestinian client urgently ordered more than 80 prefab structures. The factory's owner had never encountered such a large, urgent order before, but succeeded in meeting the deadline. Several weeks later, when the inspectors of the civil administration were enjoying their Passover vacation, hundreds of Palestinians congregated in the area of the Keidar channel under Maale Adumim and erected all the prefab structures within a short time period. » Read more

Israel is strong, but does Netanyahu want peace? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star by Fareed Zakaria - (Opinion) May 14, 2012 - 12:00am While incumbents around the world are struggling to hold on, one is thriving. By bringing the rival Kadima party into his ruling coalition, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has become “king of Israel,” in Aaron David Miller’s phrase. He has an unusual, perhaps unique, opportunity to use his new power to secure Israel’s future. » Read more

If It's Okay for Mofaz... ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward (Editorial) May 14, 2012 - 12:00am The dramatic announcement that Israel was going to have a new unity government instead of national elections scrambled the political calculus in the Knesset, left a shrunken opposition rudderless, and proved once again that Benjamin Netanyahu is one heck of a politician. It has also opened up opportunities for American Jewish dialogue on Israel. » Read more

Afraid of the future ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Jeff Barak - (Opinion) May 13, 2012 - 12:00am As someone who devoutly wishes to see the end of Binyamin Netanyahu as Israel’s prime minister, I was nevertheless delighted with last week’s turn of events which have all but guaranteed his remaining in power until the end of 2013 when this government’s official term of office expires. » Read more

Who's afraid of Nakba Day? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Shaul Arieli - (Opinion) May 14, 2012 - 12:00am The Palestinians refused to see the UN Partition Plan, which was approved by a majority of the General Assembly on November 29, 1947, as the international community saw it: as a way to correct an injustice through an amendment to the British Mandate of 1922, which stripped them of their right to self-determination. They rejected all division or unification proposals that recognized the national rights of the Jewish people. » Read more

The Lessons of the Nakba ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast by Ziad Asali - (Opinion) May 11, 2012 - 12:00am I do not need anyone to teach me about the Palestinian Nakba. It is the defining moment of my existence. I do not need anyone to lecture me about it either. » Read more