Netanyahu’s Gambit
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Ari Shavit - (Opinion) June 22, 2009 - 12:00am

The syndrome is clear: since 1992 every Israeli hawk, once elected prime minister, turns into a dove. Yitzhak Rabin, Ehud Barak, Ariel Sharon and Ehud Olmert all shifted radically to the left after taking office. What you see from here is not what you see from there, said one of them. And what any reasonable person sees after he enters the PM’s claustrophobic chamber in Jerusalem is that occupation is futile. That is why Rabin went to Oslo (1993) and Barak went to Camp David (2000). That is why Sharon pulled out of Gaza (2005) and Olmert offered a withdrawal from the West Bank (2008).

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Netanyahu's message is there will be no peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by David Grossman - June 17, 2009 - 12:00am

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech was indeed, as it has been decribed, the speech of our lives. Our bogged-down, hopeless lives.

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Haaretz poll: 64 percent of Israelis back two-state solution
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Akiva Eldar - (Analysis) June 17, 2009 - 12:00am

Figures close politically to Benjamin Netanyahu, and even Labor Party leaders, were worried that the prime minister's fear of U.S. President Barack Obama would overcome his terror of the settlers and force the words "settlement freeze" from his mouth. Here is what senior labor figure Social Affairs Minister Isaac Herzog said two weeks ago at a Knesset hearing on the illegal outposts: "There are components that certainly can be authorized or for which a solution can be found through negotiations," adding, "I absolutely believe in the need for natural growth."

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Analysis: Why was PA reaction to Netanyahu's speech so harsh?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Khaled Abu Toameh - (Analysis) June 16, 2009 - 12:00am

The Palestinian Authority leadership's hysterical, hasty and clearly miscalculated response to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's speech at Bar-Ilan University on Sunday night is likely to boomerang because it makes the Palestinians appear as "peace rejectionists." The PA, perhaps, has every right to be angry with Netanyahu's statements. However, its leaders should have been more careful in choosing the right words to express their sentiments.

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Call to shun Netanyahu over speech
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
June 15, 2009 - 12:00am

World powers should isolate the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu after he unveiled tough terms for a Middle East peace accord, an aide to the Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas said today. In a major policy speech yesterday, Mr Netanyahu responded to weeks of pressure from Washington by finally giving his endorsement, with conditions, to the establishment of a demilitarised Palestinian state.

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Palestinians dismiss Israel plan
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News
June 15, 2009 - 12:00am

Palestinians have rejected the Israeli prime minister's conditions for a two-state solution, saying he has "paralysed" the peace process. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a major policy speech, accepted the creation of a Palestinian state but only if it was demilitarised. Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas's spokesman said his comments challenged Palestinian, Arab and US positions. But the US said Mr Netanyahu's stance was an "important step forward".

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Netanyahu, Mideast peace and a return to the Axis of Evil
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Akiva Eldar - (Opinion) June 15, 2009 - 12:00am

The prime minister's speech last night returned the Middle East to the days of George W. Bush's "axis of evil." Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a patriarchal, colonialist address in the best neoconservative tradition: The Arabs are the bad guys, or at best ungrateful terrorists; the Jews, of course, are the good guys, rational people who need to raise and care for their children. In the West Bank settlement of Itamar, they're even building a nursery school.

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U.S. officials skeptical on a demilitarized Palestine
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Paul Richter - June 15, 2009 - 12:00am

U.S. officials reacted skeptically Monday to an Israeli proposal that the United States and other world powers guarantee that a new nation of Palestine remain demilitarized as a condition of its statehood. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said for the first time Sunday that Israel would be prepared to live side by side with a Palestinian state, but only if world powers guaranteed that it would be "demilitarized." The proposal came in a major statement of his views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that attracted attention worldwide.

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Salam Fayyad: The two-state solution needs action as well as words
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent
by Salam Fayyad - June 14, 2009 - 12:00am

There is growing expectation that Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, may soon endorse the two-state solution. His speech tonight outlining his government's approach to Middle East peace affords him an opportunity he should not miss. No doubt some will laud any change in his opposition to the two-state solution as a "breakthrough". But what does a genuine endorsement of it entail?

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Obama's Friends, Aides Help Shape Stance on Settlements
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Michael D. Shear - June 13, 2009 - 12:00am

President Obama's close friends and key advisers have helped him shape the toughest line against the continued expansion of Israeli settlements since the administration of President Jimmy Carter. The result has been a confrontation with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu that has surprised the Israeli government and many analysts. Netanyahu is preparing to make a major speech tomorrow in which he is expected to respond to the new American pressure.

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