Israel, Palestinians agree to more peace talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Toronto Sun
by Jeffrey Heller, Andrew Quinn - September 2, 2010 - 12:00am


Israeli and Palestinian leaders agreed to a series of direct talks Thursday, seeking to forge the framework for a U.S.-backed peace deal within a year and end a conflict that has boiled for six decades. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who hosted the first session of talks between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, expressed confidence that this effort could succeed where so many others have failed.


Israeli Peace Effort Rests on Netanyahu
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Ethan Bronner - September 1, 2010 - 12:00am


David Rubinger, one of Israel’s best-known photojournalists and a man firmly on the political left, cast his ballot last year for Benjamin Netanyahu for prime minister, the first time he had ever voted for the right-leaning Likud Party. “The left wants to make peace but cannot, while the right doesn’t want to but, if forced to, can do it,” he said in an interview. “So last year I decided to vote not with my heart but with my head.”


Negotiating With the Israeli Settlers
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Amjad Atallah, Michele Dunne, Yossi Klein Halevi, Rashid Khalidi, Menachem Klein, David Newman - (Opinion) September 1, 2010 - 12:00am


David Newman The killing of four West Bank settlers on Tuesday was the last thing that Prime Minister Netanyahu needed immediately prior to the opening of talks with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Washington. Netanyahu is under intense pressure from all sides. The Obama administration, supported by Israel’s left wing opposition, wants him to make real concessions, including a continuation of the settlement freeze which has been in place for the past ten months and which ends on Sept. 26.


At least they're talking
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
(Editorial) August 31, 2010 - 12:00am


After nearly three decades of failed peace negotiations, Israelis and Palestinians are understandably dubious about the prospects for success of the latest round of talks, this one between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, starting in Washington on Thursday. President Obama had to drag the leaders to the bargaining table after a 20-month hiatus in face-to-face contact between the two sides.


U.S.: Rabbi's 'offensive' remarks harm peace efforts
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Natasha Mozgovaya - August 30, 2010 - 12:00am


The United States on Sunday condemned remarks by the spiritual leader of Israel's leading ultra-Orthodox party, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, who said the Palestinians should "perish". "We regret and condemn the inflammatory statements by Rabbi Ovadia Yosef," U.S. State Department spokesman Philip J. Crowley. "These remarks are not only deeply offensive, but incitement such as this hurts the cause of peace." "As we move forward to relaunch peace negotiations, it is important that actions by people on all sides help to advance our effort, not hinder it."


Israeli PM weighing "goodwill" gestures to Palestinians
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
by Gur Salomon - August 30, 2010 - 12:00am


Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to offer Palestinian National Authority (PNA) President Mahmoud Abbas several "goodwill gestures" in exchange for the Palestinian leader's approval of an Israeli renewal of construction activity in the West Bank, political sources said.


Actors’ Protest and Rabbi’s Sermon Stoke Tensions in Israel Ahead of Peace Talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Isabel Kershner - August 29, 2010 - 12:00am


Israel was in an uproar on Sunday over a refusal by Israeli theater artists to perform in West Bank Jewish settlements, and Palestinians were outraged by a virulently anti-Palestinian sermon by a Jerusalem rabbi, further fueling the atmosphere days before the expected resumption of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks in Washington.


In Israel, Settling for Less
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Gadi Taub - (Opinion) August 29, 2010 - 12:00am


WILL Israel remain a Zionist state? If so, what kind? These are the important questions in Israeli politics today, and will be looming over the direct talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority scheduled to begin Thursday in Washington.


In Israel, Settling for Less
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Gadi Taub - (Opinion) August 29, 2010 - 12:00am


WILL Israel remain a Zionist state? If so, what kind? These are the important questions in Israeli politics today, and will be looming over the direct talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority scheduled to begin Thursday in Washington.


PM pulls back from Yosef’s words
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Khaled Abu Toameh, Herb Keinon - August 29, 2010 - 12:00am


Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu rushed on Sunday evening to distance himself and his government from Rabbi Ovadia Yosef’s death wish for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian people, after the flood of angry Palestinian reactions to the comments. “These words do not reflect the approach of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, nor the position of the government of Israel,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement.



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