Barak: Negotiations to resume after US elections
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Attila Somfalvi - (Opinion) November 3, 2010 - 12:00am

The peace talks with the Palestinian Authority will move forward after the midterm elections in the US, Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Tuesday. "There are elections in the US today, and I suppose that it will take them a few weeks after the elections to settle in," he said during a visit to a high school in Emek Hamaayanot Regional Council in northern Israel. "I hope and believe that we can see real progress in the negotiations in the next few months."

»

Meridor cancels UK visit for fear of arrest
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Attila Somfalvi - (Opinion) November 3, 2010 - 12:00am

Deputy Prime Minister Dan Meridor has canceled a scheduled trip to the UK for fear he would be arrested upon his arrival, Ynet reported Monday evening. Meridor, who was due to speak at a fund-raising dinner organized by the Britain Israel Communications & Research Centre instead of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, called off the trip after officials in the justice and foreign ministries warned that he may be arrested because the UK has yet to pass legislation preventing the arrest of senior Israeli officials over lawsuits filed by local political elements.

»

British foreign secretary to meet Palestinian activists in East Jerusalem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - November 3, 2010 - 12:00am

British Foreign Secretary William Hague will on Wednesday meet with a group of Palestinian activists campaigning against Israel's West Bank barrier, as part of a tour of Jerusalem. Hague, a rightwing Conservative minister in the United Kingdom's coalition government, was scheduled to arrive in Israel late Tuesday for a trip for secret roundtable discussions on the Iranian nuclear program with a long list top Israeli officials.

»

Israel cuts off special dialogue with Britain
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman
by Daniel Estrin - November 3, 2010 - 12:00am

Israel has suspended a special strategic dialogue with London as long as Israeli officials visiting Britain face possible arrest for suspected war crimes against Palestinians, officials said Wednesday. The announcement came as British Foreign Secretary William Hague met with senior Israeli officials in Jerusalem. Officials from both countries said the matter would be high on the meeting's agenda, and the British Foreign Office said it was working to resolve the matter. British officials also said Hague would repeat Britain's criticism of West Bank settlements.

»

Erekat: Arabs to bring Palestinian issue to UN
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
November 1, 2010 - 12:00am

BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) -- Egypt has proposed a joint Arab initiative to bring Palestinian demands for statehood to the United Nations, Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) chief negotiator Saeb Erekat has told Ma'an. He told Ma'an Radio that one aim of this plan, which he said is close to being finalized, would be to force Israel to stop expanding West Bank settlements before resuming negotiations. Erekat said the idea of approaching the UN stemmed from the US government's failure to stop Israel from expanding settlements.

»

French indignant with Netanyahu over freeze: report
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
November 1, 2010 - 12:00am

French President Nicolas Sarkozy is outraged at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for withdrawing his participation in a Paris summit with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Ha'aretz daily reported Sunday. The two leaders held a telephone conversation 10 days ago, during which Sarkouzy had asked Netanyahu to extend the construction moratorium in West Bank settlements in a bid to resume peace talks with the Palestinians, the report said.

»

PM: Settlement freeze issue on hold
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Attila Somfalvi - November 1, 2010 - 12:00am

There is no concrete American proposal regarding the renewal of a settlement construction freeze in the West Bank and the issue is on hold for the time being, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a Likud faction meeting on Monday. Asked by Knesset Member Tzipi Hotovely about the possibility that the Palestinian Authority would declare statehood without Israel's consent, Netanyahu said such a unilateral measure would "exact a price from both sides" and would not advance a solution to the conflict.

»

Meridor cancels UK visit for fear of arrest
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Attila Somfalvi - November 1, 2010 - 12:00am

Deputy Prime Minister Dan Meridor has canceled a scheduled trip to the UK for fear he would be arrested upon his arrival, Ynet reported Monday evening. Meridor, who was due to speak at a fund-raising dinner organized by the Britain Israel Communications & Research Centre instead of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, called off the trip after officials in the justice and foreign ministries warned that he may be arrested because the UK has yet to pass legislation preventing the arrest of senior Israeli officials over lawsuits filed by local political elements.

»

ISRAEL: Officials find Morocco a tough room these days
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Batsheva Sobelman - October 31, 2010 - 12:00am

Officially, diplomatic relations between Morocco and Israel are "suspended," according to Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This is the way things have been since 2000, when Morocco (along with Tunisia and Oman) closed "interest offices" opened only six years earlier, in better days. Still, relations continue, quiet and generally fair. Besides the several thousand tourists every year and warm sentiments Israel's Moroccan Jews maintain still today, Israeli academics, journalists and sometimes politicians travel frequently enough to Morocco.

»

Fayyad: PA will declare independent state in August 2011
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
October 28, 2010 - 12:00am

Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said the PA will declare an independent Palestinian state in 2011, while picking olives with a reporter from Italian daily Corriere Della Sera, according to an interview published on Thursday. "The deadline is next summer, when the Israeli occupation of the West Bank must end," Fayyad said. "In 2011, we will celebrate 66 years of the United Nations and the United Nations will celebrate the birth of our nation."

»


American Task Force on Palestine - 1634 Eye St. NW, Suite 725, Washington DC 20006 - Telephone: 202-262-0017