Abbas says willing to meet with Netanyahu during stay in New York
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
(Analysis) September 20, 2011 - 12:00am

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told Fox News on Monday that he was willing to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during their mutual stay in New York. Abbas, who is currently in New York holding meetings in preparation for the UN vote on Palestinian statehood told Fox News, "I will meet any Israeli official any time," although he added that “there is no use if there is nothing tangible." Abbas also included a message to U.S. President Barack Obama in the interview. “You promised me a state by September 2011. I hope you will deliver,” he said.

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Israel May Hold Palestinian Taxes on UN Vote Move, Steinitz Says
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from SFGate
by Flavia Krause-Jackson - September 20, 2011 - 12:00am

Sept. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Israel may withhold as much as 40 percent of Palestinians' financial revenue should they persist in pushing for a vote on statehood at the United Nations, Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz said. "It will be very difficult for us to continue to collaborate with a hostile Palestinian entity," Steinitz, 53, said in an interview yesterday at Bloomberg's headquarters in New York. "Maybe we will tell the Palestinians 'Okay, collect your own tax. Why should we do it for you?'"

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Malki: Talks can't resume until Israel accepts PA's terms
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Herb Keinon - (Analysis) September 20, 2011 - 12:00am

Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riad al-Malki on Tuesday responded to Israeli calls for an immediate resumption of peace talks, saying that Israel must accept the PA's list of terms before negotiations can restart. "[Prime Minister Binyamin] Netanyahu has to accept all terms of reference and stop settlement activity including [in] east Jerusalem, to enter negotiations immediately with [a] timeframe not to exceed six months [and] with international guarantees to make any negotiations serious and credible," Al Jazeera quoted Malki as saying in New York.

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Capitol Letter / Obama is stuck between a veto and a hard place
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Natasha Mozgovaya - (Blog) September 20, 2011 - 12:00am

As President Barack Obama prepares to address the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday, many recall what he said to the body last year when he devoted over a quarter of his speech to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. One particular phrase drew much attention: "When we come back here next year, we can have an agreement that will lead to a new member of the United Nations - an independent, sovereign state of Palestine, living in peace with Israel."

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Journey from Oslo to New York after 20 Years
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al-Hayat
by George Semaan - (Opinion) September 20, 2011 - 12:00am

All the efforts to prevent the Palestinian authority from heading to the United Nations to ensure the proclamation of the state were expected to fail. The Israeli prime minister who kept knocking on Europe’s doors among others after he knocked on the United States’ doors to thwart this step maintained his position. He wants unconditional negotiations. This is the same position that froze the talks over a year ago, and the one that foiled all the American efforts to activate the settlement and reach the promised Palestinian state.

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Palestine UN bid difficult, says Nick Clegg
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent
by Joe Churcher, Sam Lister - (Analysis) September 20, 2011 - 12:00am

Britain faces a "difficult judgment" over whether to back Palestinian statehood at the United Nations, Nick Clegg said today amid reports of a coalition split on the issue. The Deputy Prime Minister said there had been "debates" at the top of Government over the position to adopt but said it would be unhelpful to air them in public. Diplomatic efforts are under way to persuade Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas not to table a Security Council statehood bid - which is opposed by the US and Israel.

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The Tsuris
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from New York Magazine
by John Heilemann - (Opinion) September 20, 2011 - 12:00am

The last time Barack Obama and Benjamin Netanyahu shared each other’s company, you could say that the encounter did not go well—if by “not well” you mean abysmally. This was on May 20, the day after Obama gave his big speech on the Arab Spring, in which he unleashed a tsunami of tsuris by endorsing the use of Israel’s 1967 borders “with mutually agreed [land] swaps” as the basis for a two-state solution with the Palestinians.

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Abbas' U.N. fantasy
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Ron Prosor - (Opinion) September 19, 2011 - 12:00am

In Lewis Carroll's "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland," the heroine falls down a rabbit hole into a confusing fantasy world. Writing today, Carroll might have placed Alice in the 66th General Assembly of the United Nations, where Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas plans this week to seek U.N. recognition of statehood. If Alice was perplexed by the Mad Hatter or the Queen of Hearts, it would be interesting to see her reaction to a president whose mandate has long expired applying for statehood over territory, part of which he is too afraid to visit.

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U.S. to Netanyahu: Don't sanction Palestinians following statehood bid at UN
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - (Analysis) September 19, 2011 - 12:00am

The United States and several European countries have been urging Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to take drastic punitive measures against the Palestinians after they ask the United Nations to recognize their state. Netanyahu, who is under heavy pressure from Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz and Deputy Prime Minister Moshe Ya'alon to respond strongly to the Palestinian Authority, has decided at this point to wait until the significance of the Palestinian move becomes clearer to commit to any course of action.

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Playing a dangerous game
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Jeff Barak - (Opinion) September 18, 2011 - 12:00am

When Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu makes his speech to the United Nations General Assembly at the end of the week in New York, he will be facing a much tougher audience than he experienced when addressing the Houses of Congress in Washington on his last trip to the United States.

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