Settlers fear Obama visit spells construction freeze
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Itamar Fleishman - March 12, 2013 - 12:00am

United States President Barack Obama's visit to Israel next week has sent Israeli entrepreneurs and future homeowners in the West Bank to a building frenzy, fearing the

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Next few months crucial for Israeli-Palestinian peace process: UN envoy
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
March 12, 2013 - 12:00am

The next few months will be " make-or-break" time for the fate of the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians, UN Middle East peace envoy said here Monday. "We feel that the two-state solution for the Israeli- Palestinian conflict is on life support and see 2013 as a critical year to get things moving in the stalled peace talks," Robert Serry, who has served as a special regional coordinator for the past five years, said during an event hosted by the One Voice non- governmental organization in the Tel Aviv University.

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Obama visit marks a choice for Israel: Grow up or grow old
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from
by Bradley Burston - (Blog) March 12, 2013 - 12:00am

President Barack Obama's visit to Israel comes less than a month before Israel reaches retirement age. As Israel faces the 65th anniversary of its founding next month, the arrival of the American president marks something of a crossroads in the history and the direction of the country.

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Needed: A New Approach to Resolve the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Huffington Post
by Robert K Lifton - (Opinion) March 12, 2013 - 12:00am

The expectation that President Obama will visit Israel and the West Bank around March 20th has generated renewed focus on how he should approach the Israel-Palestinian issues. Israel's President Shimon Peres has said that the President's visit is a "good occasion" to restart the stalled peace process. At the same time, Obama's press spokesman has said, "while the President is not going with any specific peace plan in hand, the president thinks...it's in the interests of both parties, Palestinians and Israelis to pursue a peace agreement."

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Why Middle East Peace Is So Elusive
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from
by Mortimer B. Zuckerman - (Opinion) March 12, 2013 - 12:00am

This month President Obama makes his first visit to Israel since he became president. His first term did not begin auspiciously in this regard, with critical remarks on settlements that pre-empted negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. Indeed, in the following four years, the prospects of peace have seen only a savage deterioration. In Israel, Obama has been regarded as the least friendly U.S. president ever, and in the region the United States is perceived as having lost both interest and clout.

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Flawed Questions About Israel's Right To Exist
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast
by Mira Sucharov - March 12, 2013 - 12:00am

In the New York Times, Joseph Levine has set out to answer a question that is widely considered taboo within the mainstream, but which is increasingly heard as a mantra within anti-Zionist circles: does Israel have a right to exist?

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Is Obama Bringing a Peace Plan?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line
by Linda Gradstein - March 11, 2013 - 12:00am

Over and over, American officials insist that President Obama has no new Israeli-Palestinian peace plan hidden in his pocket, ready to be whipped out during next week’s meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. But Palestinians hope and Israelis fear that he will try to restart a peace process that has been moribund for the past four years.

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The End of the Two-State Solution: Why the window is closing on Middle-East peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New Republic
by Ben Birnbaum - (Opinion) March 11, 2013 - 12:00am

One Friday evening last November, Mahmoud Abbas made a rare appearance on the popular Israeli TV station, Channel 2. In his boxy suit and tie, the Palestinian president looked every bit his 77 years, his olive skin tinged with gray, his voice soft and whispery. He shifted in his seat with every answer.

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Palestinians deserve justice, not apathy
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News
by Adel Safty - (Opinion) March 10, 2013 - 1:00am

John Kerry, the former presidential candidate and the veteran chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, has just returned from his first trip to Europe and the Middle East as secretary of state. At the press conference with British Foreign Secretary William Hague, Kerry gave the impression that the Middle East did not figure prominently in his discussion with Hague. In his opening statement Hague said: “Top of our agenda was the Middle East, including the importance we both attach to ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict…”

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An Ode to Joy: President Obama has no peace plan!
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Chemi Shalev - (Opinion) March 10, 2013 - 1:00am

The news that President Obama has no intention of presenting a new peace plan on his upcoming visit to Israel was greeted by a collective sigh of relief that was so pronounced that it sounded like a giant roar of approval. Hallelujah, Israel is saved. Just in time for Passover, as usual.

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