Israeli Foreign Minister Distances Himself From Talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Neil MacFarquhar - September 28, 2010 - 12:00am

Sharp differences within the Israeli government over peace negotiations played out in the unusual setting of the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, with Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman using the podium to say that peace with the Palestinians required an intermediate agreement lasting “decades” and that the issue of Iranian belligerence should be addressed first.

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Israel minister's UN speech disowned by Netanyahu
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Patrick Worsnip - September 28, 2010 - 12:00am

Israel's foreign minister said on Tuesday a peace deal with the Palestinians could take decades and pressed his own plan which seeks to get rid of as many Israeli Arab citizens as possible in a land swap. In a speech to the U.N. General Assembly in New York that was quickly disowned by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Avigdor Lieberman again exposed the serious differences between Netanyahu and him over peace prospects.

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“Pleasant Surprise” From Netanyahu
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al-Hayat
by Elias Harfoush - (Opinion) September 28, 2010 - 12:00am

When Benjamin Netanyahu refused to extend the settlement freeze in the West Bank, he was not doing anything surprising. Indeed, he was not expected to respond to the calls of the sponsor of the direct negotiations, President Barack Obama, or to the positions of the European Union which urged Israel to provide the necessary climate for the success of the negotiations.

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Separating gimmickry from reality on settlements
In Print by Hussein Ibish - NOW Lebanon (Opinion) - September 28, 2010 - 12:00am

Israel’s temporary, partial settlement construction moratorium has finally expired without being renewed in any way. This is in spite of repeated American entreaties to the Israeli government to extend the moratorium and repeated Palestinian warnings that negotiations could not continue if building resumes. As things stand, the issue is unresolved and poses a serious threat to the future of negotiations, with the United States urgently looking for a compromise and the Palestinians putting off any final decision for at least another week.

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Asharq Al-Awsat Talks to Israeli Deputy PM Dan Meridor
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
by Nazar Majli - (Interview) September 27, 2010 - 12:00am

Tel Aviv, Asharq Al-Awsat- Israeli Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Intelligence Dan Meridor has appealled to Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas (Abu-Mazin) not to withdraw from the direct negotiations because of the issue of settlement construction activity. In An exclusive interview with Asharq Al-Awsat Meridor said that the negotiations are over something that is more important than the settlement activities; they are over the establishment of a Palestinian State that will provide the Palestinian people with stability and put an end to their suffering.

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Peace might upend wealth of Israelis
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Jonathan Cook - September 27, 2010 - 12:00am

With the resumption of settlement construction in the West Bank yesterday, Israel’s powerful settler movement hopes that it has scuttled peace talks with the Palestinians, too. It would be misleading, however, to assume that the major obstacle to the success of talks is the right-wing political ideology the settler movement represents. Equally important are deeply entrenched economic interests shared across Israeli society.

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A Jewish state or an Israeli democracy?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Shlomo Sand - September 26, 2010 - 12:00am

A Jewish state or an Israeli democracy? In the talks that appear to be taking place between Israel and the Palestinians, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has asked his negotiating partner to recognize Israel as a Jewish state. One can understand the prime minister: A man so little observant of the Jewish religious tradition is unsure of his Jewish identity, hence his insecurity about the identity of his state - and the need to seek validation from our neighbors.

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Is Gideon Levy the most hated man in Israel or just the most heroic?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent
by Johann Hari - (Interview) September 24, 2010 - 12:00am

Gideon Levy is the most hated man in Israel – and perhaps the most heroic. This “good Tel Aviv boy” – a sober, serious child of the Jewish state – has been shot at repeatedly by the Israeli Defence Force, been threatened with being “beaten to a pulp” on the country’s streets, and faced demands from government ministers that he be tightly monitored as “a security risk.” This is because he has done something very simple, and something that almost no other Israeli has done.

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Outgoing Israeli army chief warns of local violence
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
September 23, 2010 - 12:00am

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi has warned that the regions could fall into wide-scale violence if the recently launched Middle East peace talks fail. Confrontations with the Palestinians would be "inevitable" if the Israeli-Palestinian direct negotiations come to a halt, local daily Ha'aretz quoted Anhkenazi as addressing the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Security Committee on Tuesday. He estimated, however, that the potential violence would not be on a par with confrontations in the second Palestinian uprising in 2000.

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Israeli leaders condemn Clinton immigrant comments
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman
by Aron Heller - September 23, 2010 - 12:00am

Israeli leaders have sharply criticized Bill Clinton over comments the former U.S. president made this week calling Russian immigrants in Israel an obstacle to peace. Clinton, who is generally a well-loved figure in Israel for his efforts to broker a Mideast peace deal in the 1990s, also said at a round-table group this week in New York that the most recent arrivals in Israel have the hardest time agreeing to share the land with the Palestinians.

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