Pace of Planning for East Jerusalem Projects Slows
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Isabel Kershner - April 27, 2010 - 12:00am

After a recent spike in Israeli-American tensions over Israeli building plans for Jewish housing in contested East Jerusalem, there appears to have been a lull in the planning process. Palestinians demand that East Jerusalem be the capital of a future state, and call for an end to settlement construction there. Some municipal officials in Jerusalem have interpreted the lull as amounting to a tacit, if temporary, freeze in the advancement of new plans. Other municipal and government officials say that regular planning meetings have been held up for purely bureaucratic reasons.

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Israel quietly freezes new building in East Jerusalem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Ilene Prusher - April 27, 2010 - 12:00am

If the Middle East peace process were a stock, it would be one of the riskiest investments on the market. But there are bullish indicators for renewed peace talks between the Israelis and Palestinians. Both sides seem to be moving toward compromises which, although seemingly minor, might pave the way to the first serious peace talks since the failed Annapolis process that began in late 2007.

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US officials: Barkat undermines talks effort
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Yitzhak Benhorin - April 27, 2010 - 12:00am

Defense Minister Ehud Barak met Tuesday with senior US administration officials in Washington, who expressed their surprise over Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat's behavior. His conduct, they said, completely contradicts to the atmosphere the government is trying to create in order to renew negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.

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Foxman: US shift in Israel policy "deeply distressing"
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Rebecca Anna Stoil - April 26, 2010 - 12:00am

The Anti-Defamation League’s National Director Abe Foxman over the weekend joined the growing tide of American Jewish leaders criticizing US President Barack Obama’s policy toward Israel. In a statement, Foxman described as “deeply distressing,” the “significant shift in US policy toward Israel and the peace process, which has been evident in comments from various members of the Obama Administration and has now been confirmed by the president himself in his press conference at the Nuclear Security Summit.”

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Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat on Jewish housing
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Edmund Sanders - (Interview) April 26, 2010 - 12:00am

When Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat took office 18 months ago, he was heralded as a secular, progressive high-tech entrepreneur who would apply his business savvy to modernizing the ancient city, particularly after five years under an ultra-Orthodox leader. Barkat hired the same consultants as Disney for advice about crowd management and stood up to ultra-Orthodox demonstrators who demanded that he close city parking lots on the Sabbath.

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Is there a de facto east Jerusalem construction freeze?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Abe Selig - April 26, 2010 - 12:00am

The government has imposed a de facto freeze on new Jewish construction projects in east Jerusalem despite Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s public insistence to the contrary, Jerusalem Municipality officials said on Monday. While whether the slowdown actually constitutes a moratorium, or how long it will last, remains unclear, the apparent freeze likely reflects Netanyahu’s need to mend the current rift with the US regarding construction over the Green Line, on lands the Palestinians claim for a future state, and to bring the Palestinians back to the negotiating table.

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Israeli Rightists Stir Tensions in East Jerusalem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Isabel Kershner - April 25, 2010 - 12:00am

A small group of ultra-right-wing Israelis marched through a volatile neighborhood of East Jerusalem on Sunday, arousing passions over the future of the contested city as an American envoy wrapped up an inconclusive three-day visit aimed at getting peace talks under way. The Obama administration’s Middle East envoy, George J. Mitchell, met with Israeli and Palestinian leaders over the weekend in an effort to reach understandings that will allow the start of indirect, American-brokered negotiations.

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Netanyahu must stop East Jerusalem construction if he wants peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
(Editorial) April 25, 2010 - 12:00am

After the latest round of talks with Special U.S. Envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell, a cautious hope is emerging that indirect talks between Israel and the Palestinians, with American mediation, will begin in the first half of May. As reported by Haaretz on Sunday, U.S. President Barack Obama has invited Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to the talks, although he has not been able to secure from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a public and explicit commitment to a total freeze on construction for Jews in East Jerusalem for the duration of the negotiations.

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Netanyahu's 'no freeze in Jerusalem' declarations are hollow
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Akiva Eldar - April 23, 2010 - 12:00am

The prime minister's response Thursday on Channel 2 that "there will be no freeze [in construction] in Jerusalem," is like Bill Clinton's "I did not have sex with that woman." Benjamin Netanyahu did not insist this time that he will continue construction in Ramat Shlomo, Gilo and Har Homa - something he is leaving for Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman to do. Based on the speeches the two gave on Independence Day, Jerusalem Day came early this year.

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Giving ground on Arab east Jerusalem?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by David Horovitz - April 23, 2010 - 12:00am

On the face of it, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s interview with Channel 2 last night represented a fairly banal outing. Israel wanted to avoid wars, he declared, and it sought peace. Not many headlines there. He may not have signaled the firmest of convictions in President Obama’s capacity to prevent Iran from attaining a nuclear weapons capability, but he didn’t give voice to any specific skepticism he may be feeling either.

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