'No need to remove any settlements'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Herb Keinon - April 16, 2010 - 12:00am

Israel should not have to remove any settlements in a peace agreement with the Palestinians, Strategic Affairs Minister Moshe Ya’alon has told The Jerusalem Post, adding that just as Arabs live in Israel, so, too, should Jews be able to live in a future Palestinian entity. “If we are talking about coexistence and peace, why the [Palestinian] insistence that the territory they receive be ethnically cleansed of Jews?” Ya’alon asked during a wide-ranging interview that will appear in the Post’s Yom Ha’atzmaut supplement on Monday.

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Israel ponders construction, demolition in disputed Jerusalem areas
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Dave Bender, Qi Xianghui - April 15, 2010 - 12:00am

The Jerusalem municipality has taken an administrative step towards building some 200 apartments, a synagogue and a school in a disputed area in East Jerusalem, Israeli media reported. It is unclear when the building would begin. Yossi Gottesman, deputy spokesperson for the municipality, told Xinhua on Wednesday that the municipality has "transferred legal ownership of several dunams of land" in the neighborhood of Gilo. But he did not specify if the property would be used for housing, the synagogue or the school.

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Obama to Sarkozy: I'll keep up pressure on Israel, Palestinians
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - April 15, 2010 - 12:00am

U.S. President Barack Obama has told French President Nicolas Sarkozy that he is determined to keep the pressure on Israel and the Palestinians to renew peace talks and implement confidence-building measures. Obama made his comments despite potential political damage at home ahead of the mid-term congressional elections in November.

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'Obama taking reins on policy towards Mideast conflict'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Yitzhak Benhorin - April 15, 2010 - 12:00am

US President Obama has taken control over US policy towards the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, particularly since Israel announced the construction of 1,600 new housing units in Jerusalem's Ramat Shlomo neighborhood during Vice President Joe Biden's visit, according to an opinion piece published in the New York Times on Thursday.

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More e. J'lem construction on agenda
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Abe Selig - April 15, 2010 - 12:00am

Building projects over the Green Line, including a school and a synagogue in the Gilo neighborhood, and an extension to a synagogue in Pisgat Ze’ev, will be on the agenda when the Jerusalem Municipality’s Local Planning and Building Committee meets on Thursday. Despite reports that the Jerusalem Regional Planning and Building Commission is observing a de facto freeze with regard to east Jerusalem construction, the committee is set to meet on Thursday morning for back-to-back sessions dealing with building requests and permits for those and other potential projects.

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Israel tourism advert featured picture of Occupied Territories
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent
by Stian Alexander - April 14, 2010 - 12:00am

The Israeli tourist office has been criticised by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for including images of the Palestinian-run West Bank in an advert for a holiday in Israel. The advert for the Israeli government's Tourist Office stated that you could "travel the entire length of Israel in six hours".

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Multiple battlegrounds in fights over eastern Jerusalem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
by Marcy Oster - April 13, 2010 - 12:00am

The day that Zacharia Zigelman, 26, moved into a home in the Arab neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, in eastern Jerusalem, he got beaten up, he says. “You get used to it," Zigelman said of the incident, which occurred about six months ago.

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Barkat wants to renew razing orders in east Jerusalem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Ronen Medzini - April 13, 2010 - 12:00am

Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat demanded recently that the city's police force renew the razing of illegal structures in east Jerusalem on which demolition orders have been issued, Ynet learned Tuesday. The municipality has held off on implementing the orders since October due to political instability and pressure on the part of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Peace Now Secretary-General Yariv Oppenheimer responded to Barkat's orders by calling the mayor "a strategic threat to the stability in the Middle East".

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U.S. acts as though it seeks regime change in Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Aaron David Miller - (Opinion) April 12, 2010 - 12:00am

Regime change. Generally it's a term and tactic reserved for America's enemies. But what if the Obama administration is developing a more nuanced version for one of the United States' closest allies -- Israel?

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U.S tensions put Jerusalem construction on hold
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Nir Hasson - April 12, 2010 - 12:00am

Construction requiring the approval of Jerusalem's district planning committee has been on hold for more than a month in all parts of the city due to concerns about a new crisis in ties with the United States. Staff members of the Jerusalem District Planning and Building Committee have been instructed to halt their work in an effort to spare Israel further embarrassing incidents like the March announcement, during U.S. Vice President Joe Biden's visit to Israel, of plans to expand the Jewish neighborhood of Ramat Shlomo in East Jerusalem.

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