Obama envoy holds talks in Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News
April 16, 2009 - 12:00am

George Mitchell reiterated Washington's support for a Palestinian state alongside Israel, in talks with the Israeli president and foreign minister. Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said the diplomatic process was at a "dead end" and a new approach was needed. Mr Mitchell is due to have dinner with Mr Netanyahu later on Thursday. He will then travel to the West Bank for talks with Palestinian leaders on Friday. The US envoy has arrived in Israel to a changed political landscape, says the BBC's Tim Franks in Jerusalem.

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Lieberman to Mitchell: Past Mideast peace efforts failed
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Akiva Eldar, Amos Harel - April 16, 2009 - 12:00am

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Thursday told special U.S. envoy George Mitchell that a different approach was needed to solve the Middle East conflict, because that of past Israeli governments had failed. "New ideas" must be found, because the path taken by previous governments did not lead to "good places, to say the least," Lieberman told Mitchell, who arrived in Israel Wednesday night. This was Mitchell's third round of talks in Jerusalem and Ramallah since his appointment, and the first during the tenure of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Advertisement

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Obama envoy Mitchell to ask PM to clarify position on peace talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Akiva Eldar, Amos Harel - April 16, 2009 - 12:00am

U.S. special envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell arrived last night in Israel for the third round of talks in Jerusalem and Ramallah since his appointment, and the first during the tenure of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Mitchell is expected to ask the prime minister during their meeting today to clarify Israel's position regarding the resumption of negotiations with the Palestinians and Syria.

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Beyond a two-state solution
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from New Statesman
by Edward Platt - (Opinion) April 16, 2009 - 12:00am

When Binyamin Netanyahu finally announced the make-up of his coalition government on 30 March, two of the most important posts went to figures from opposing ends of the political spectrum – the Labour leader Ehud Barak retained his job as minister of defence, and the leader of the far-right Yisrael Beiteinu (“Israeli Home”) party, Avigdor Lieberman, became foreign minister. Such a broad coalition, born of Israel’s system of proportional representation, will generate a stalemate in the domestic arena, and it is hard to see it making much progress in foreign affairs.

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A message Obama can’t ignore
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
by Osama Al-Sharif - April 15, 2009 - 12:00am

President Barack Obama will receive a message from the Arab world next week when he meets King Abdallah of Jordan in Washington. It will be an important message that the American president and his administration should appreciate because of its timing and content.

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Mitchell due to arrive in Israel on second leg of Mideast trip
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Natasha Mozgovaya - April 15, 2009 - 12:00am

The United States envoy to the Middle East, George Mitchell was due to arrive in Israel Wednesday on the second leg of his Middle East trip. Mitchell has already met with a number of Arab leaders during the trip in an effort to revive stalled peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. After meeting with Morocco's foreign minister, Taieb Fassi Fihri, Mitchell reiterated his country's commitment to a two-state solution to the conflict, something that Israel's new government has so far refrained from explicitly backing.

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Moratinos: We won't let Netanyahu evade peace process
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Roni Sofer - April 14, 2009 - 12:00am

Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Ángel Moratinos met Tuesday with former Minister Yossi Beilin in Madrid and told him that "Europe will not accept a situation in which the Netanyahu government evades its predecessors' decisions in regards to the peace process."

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Why new Palestinian talks will fail
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
by George Giacaman - (Opinion) April 14, 2009 - 12:00am

The second round of Palestinian reconciliation talks in Cairo have been postponed for several weeks, and even if they resume toward the end of April as announced, it is not likely that they will succeed. At best the parties might agree on the composition of the new Cabinet, but all other issues, even if there is agreement in principle over them, will not be implemented any time soon.

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Mitchell visit to see if Netanyahu really against 2-states
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Yitzhak Benhorin - April 14, 2009 - 12:00am

Prominent voices from within Benjamin Netanyahu's government have already made it clear they oppose the two-state solution and the understandings agreed upon at the Annapolis Peace Summit. Ascertaining whether this is indeed the genuine position of the new Israeli government is the top priority for US President Barack Obama's special envoy to the Middle East, George Mitchell, during his visit this "It's one thing to hear statements in the press, it's another to hear it in a one-on-one meeting," a source in Washington told Ynet on Monday evening.

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Netanyahu and Obama Prepare for First Round
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Middle East Times
by Mel Frykberg - April 13, 2009 - 12:00am

The new U.S. administration and the new Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are preparing for a possible confrontation on the future of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict as well as several other issues. A collision course between the two countries seems inevitable as U.S. President Barack Obama reiterates his support for a two-state solution to the protracted conflict while Netanyahu's new Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman states that Israel is no longer obliged to honor previous peace agreements with the Palestinians.

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