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.

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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.


The dangers of a unilateral Palestine
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
by Ghanem Nuseibeh - (Opinion) November 15, 2010 - 1:00am

Many people view the prospect of creating an Arab state in the land of Palestine as nothing short of a political earthquake.

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The US cannot continue to enable Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
(Editorial) November 15, 2010 - 1:00am

An enabler is not the same thing as a friend. In its relationship with Israel, the United States has rarely understood the difference.

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Second squadron of F-35s is ‘an offer hard to refuse’
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Yaakov Katz - November 15, 2010 - 1:00am

Top IDF officers and Defense Ministry officials claimed Sunday that the arrival of a second squadron of F-35 joint strike fighters was of critical importance for the security of the State of Israel. In an effort to convince the Netanyahu government to impose a three-month moratorium on settlement construction in the West Bank, the Obama administration offered Israel last week a long list of security and diplomatic benefits, including 20 F-35s for free.

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What exactly does Obama expect from Netanyahu?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Aluf Benn - (Opinion) November 15, 2010 - 1:00am

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned from his journey to the United States with an American dictate: Freeze settlements for three months, during which time speedy negotiations will be held to determine the future border between Israel and Palestine. To soften the impression that this would be seen as giving in to U.S. pressure and to make it easier to gain cabinet approval for the freeze, the dictate was padded with political and security goodies, which can be summed up as such: stealth military aircraft in exchange for an end to Netanyahu's evasive tactics.

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The Palestinians are in the driving seat, their time is now
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Zvi Barel - (Opinion) November 15, 2010 - 1:00am

"Turkey? Yes," "Russia? Yes," "United Kingdom? Yes," "United States? Abstain," "Israel? No." This is how a vote at the United Nations on the recognition of an independent Palestine may sound. And really, why should the Palestinians not demand international recognition of their state? In such a move it could shake the peace process and extricate it from the strangle hold in which Palestine and Israel are caught.

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Madam Secretary’s Middle East
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Richard Cohen - (Opinion) November 15, 2010 - 1:00am

LONDON — I like the look of President Barack Obama’s new Middle East envoy, a person with broad experience, the trust of Israelis, growing support among West Bank Palestinians and a fierce personal conviction that a peace accord is essential not only for the parties but for United States national security. Damon Winter/The New York Times Roger Cohen Go to Columnist Page » Related Times Topic: Hillary Rodham Clinton Readers' Comments Share your thoughts. Post a Comment » Read All Comments (17) »

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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.

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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.

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