Netanyahu hints at flexibility on Jerusalem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
by Uriel Heilman - July 8, 2010 - 12:00am

It was an otherwise wholly unremarkable stump speech before a friendly audience in New York. On Wednesday evening at Manhattan’s Plaza Hotel, the Israeli prime minister addressed a roomful of about 200 Jews on the subjects of Iran, his government’s eagerness for direct peace talks with the Palestinians and the swell meeting he had just had with President Obama at the White House.

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Political theatre masks US-Israel tensions
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News
by Jeremy Bowen - July 8, 2010 - 12:00am

After their meeting at the White House, President Barack Obama walked his guest, the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, to his limousine. The solicitous host waited, slightly awkwardly, as Mr Netanyahu settled himself into the back seat. Immaculately uniformed servicemen stood rigidly to attention on either side of the vehicle. And then the video ended, before you could see whether Mr Obama waved until his new pal was out of sight. Actually he was only staying a few minutes walk away, at the official guest quarters, Blair House.

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Netanyahu to US Jews: Direct talks with PA soon
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
July 8, 2010 - 12:00am

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday he thinks direct talks with the Palestinians will begin very soon and he predicted they will be "very, very tough." Before flying to Washington for a meeting with President Barack Obama, Netanyahu told his Cabinet on Sunday that the "time has come" for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to get ready to meet directly with the Israelis "because there is no other way to advance peace."

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Netanyahu to CNN: I'm prepared to discuss future of settlements
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
July 8, 2010 - 12:00am

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday he was prepared to discuss "right away" the future of Jewish settlements if Palestinians entered direct peace talks with Israel. Asked on CNN's "Larry King Live" if he would extend beyond September a 10-month moratorium on housing starts in settlements in the occupied West Bank, Netanyahu said it was time for the "Let's just get into the talks and one of the things we'll discuss right away is this issue of settlements and that's what I propose doing," he said.

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King for a day
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Ari Shavit - (Opinion) July 8, 2010 - 12:00am

A week ago Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's condition was nearly desperate. The Turkel committee became a committee with teeth liable to bite the prime minister, while State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss' scrutiny of the flotilla affair threatened to wound the prime minister. Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman started making threats again and Defense Minister Ehud Barak continued to make trouble. Many observers are predicting that the government will start to disintegrate by September.

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Nice pictures, but what did Obama and Bibi discuss?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
by Ron Kampeas - (Opinion) July 7, 2010 - 12:00am

The optics were perfect, but the meaning was elusive. President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sat together Tuesday, joshing and smiling, trying to project a clear message: The rift was over. Israel and the United States are on the same track again.

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Analysis: President now working with the PM, not against him
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Herb Keinon - July 7, 2010 - 12:00am

Tuesday's White House meeting between Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and US President Barack Obama was the fifth time the two leaders have met in some 14 months, but only the second time they have issued joint statements and answered questions together. And the difference in Obama's tone on Tuesday, compared to the last time they met the press in the Oval Office in May 2009, was striking.

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President Obama, Benjamin Netanyahu try to mend fences
Media Mention of Hussein Ibish In Politico - July 7, 2010 - 12:00am

President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tried to exude a new sense of warmth in their rocky relationship Tuesday as both expressed confidence that the Israeli leader will soon hold direct peace talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. “The bond between the United States and Israel is unbreakable,” said Obama, seated in the Oval Office alongside Netanyahu following their meeting that lasted more than 90 minutes. “We’ve seen over the last year how our relationship has broadened,” Obama added. “In fact, our relationship is continuing to improve.”

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Obama Says Direct Israeli-Palestinian Talks May Be Imminent
Media Mention of Hussein Ibish In Bloomberg - July 7, 2010 - 12:00am

President Barack Obama said direct Israel-Palestinian talks may get started within less than three months, praising Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a leader prepared to take “risks for peace.” Obama and Netanyahu, speaking to reporters at the White House yesterday after an 80-minute meeting, both said they wanted to dispel concerns that the U.S. commitment to Israel has been weakened by disputes over construction in West Bank settlements and east Jerusalem. The two leaders ate lunch together with advisers.

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Palestinian state now
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Orly Azoulay - July 6, 2010 - 12:00am

The prime minister will undergo a corrective experience in the White House Tuesday: President Obama will shake his hand before the cameras, utter a few polite words of encouragement, and later serve the PM a strictly kosher lunch. It won’t be like Netanyahu’s previous visit, which was held far away from the cameras, almost in hiding, amid a sour atmosphere and bearing the characteristics of a military hazing ceremony.

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