‘Land Swaps’: Is There Enough Land To Swap?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
by Nathan Jeffay - (Analysis) May 25, 2011 - 12:00am

It is the magic formula that could end the occupation while letting the majority of settlers stay put. But how would an Israeli-Palestinian land swap, the basis of President Obama’s Middle East vision, outlined on May 19, actually work? The main practical problem of an Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank is the fact that some 300,000 Israeli settlers live there. Not only would a full evacuation be hazardous for any Israeli government on the domestic political front, but it also would be logistically difficult and exceedingly costly.

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Parsing Netanyahu's Washington talking points
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ibishblog
by Hussein Ibish - (Blog) May 25, 2011 - 12:00am

The Israeli Embassy in Washington helpfully sent their allies in Washington a set of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's talking points in relation to his speech in Congress yesterday and to AIPAC at the weekend, which were published by Ben Smith of Politico. They are the following: Netanyahu's vision of peace: 1) Mutual Recognition of the Jewish state and the Palestinian State 2) A Palestinian state that is independent and viable 3) A Palestinian state that will be fully demilitarized, with an Israeli military presence along the Jordan River.

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In speech to Congress, Israel's Netanyahu offers few concessions
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Paul Richter - May 25, 2011 - 12:00am

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a joint session of Congress he was prepared to make "painful compromises" for peace but he offered few of the concessions that President Obama has sought as a way to revive moribund Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. Ending a tumultuous five-day visit to Washington, Netanyahu said Tuesday he was willing to give up "parts of the ancestral Jewish homeland" in negotiations to create a separate Palestinian state. But he set requirements that varied only slightly from his previous views, and he did not address many specific Palestinian demands.

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Should the Palestinians Recognize Israel as a Jewish State?
In Print by Hussein Ibish - Foreign Policy (Opinion) - May 25, 2011 - 12:00am

Most observers expected Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to target his harshest criticisms of the Palestinians during his U.S. trip on the Hamas-Fatah agreement. Surprisingly, his most important talking point turned out to be his demand for Palestinian recognition of Israel as a "Jewish state." To be sure, Netanyahu took every opportunity to denounce the Palestinian unity deal, compare Hamas to al Qaeda, and point out that some of its leaders had praised Osama bin Laden.

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The facts and fictions of Netanyahu's address to Congress
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Jonathan Lis - May 25, 2011 - 12:00am

Here is some of what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Congress on Tuesday - and what he failed to mention: Netanyahu to Congress: "The vast majority of the 650,000 Israelis who live beyond the 1967 lines reside in neighborhoods and suburbs of Jerusalem and Greater Tel Aviv." Netanyahu presented a figure to Congress, according to which 650 thousand Israelis live over the Green Line (1967 borders). This is an inflated figure, based on a report published by the Israeli Civil Administration on June 30, 2009, at the height of the settlement freeze.

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Netanyahu wasted his chance to present a vision for peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
(Editorial) May 25, 2011 - 12:00am

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had an outstanding opportunity yesterday to present a vision of a just and sustainable peace for Israel and the Palestinians. Millions watched his speech at the U.S. Congress with bated breath. They anticipated a momentous address that would break the stalemate in the diplomatic discourse over a final peace agreement and lead to the end of the bloody conflict between the two peoples. Many hoped the new winds blowing in recent months in the Middle East would also sweep the prime minister along a new path.

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Settlers: We won't live in Palestinian state
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Yair Altman - May 25, 2011 - 12:00am

Jewish settlers living beyond the 1967 lines expressed concern Wednesday after hearing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu say Israel "will be required to give up parts of the ancestral Jewish homeland" during his speech before Congress. The possibility of Jewish settlements becoming a part of a Palestinian state aroused their anger. "It's mass suicide, they'll just destroy us," a settler claimed. "Such talk of abandonment is very grave."

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Don't be fooled by the applause, Binyamin Netanyahu
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Jane Eisner - (Opinion) May 25, 2011 - 12:00am

When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed a joint session of Congress on Tuesday, his first audience was the assembly of federal lawmakers and other government dignitaries seated before him. His second audience was President Obama, who was off hobnobbing with the Queen of England, but who, only days earlier, had set out his vision for achieving a resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. And his third audience was the American Jewish community. People like me.

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Netanyahu Gives No Ground in Congress Speech
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Ethan Bronner, Helene Cooper - May 24, 2011 - 12:00am

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, broadly laying out the Israeli response to President Obama’s peace proposals, called on the Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas, on Tuesday to accept what Mr. Netanyahu framed as a tenet: that Palestinians will not get a right of return to Israel. In so doing, he made clear that he was giving no ground on the major stumbling blocks to a peace agreement.

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Lessons From Tahrir Sq.
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Thomas L. Friedman - (Opinion) May 24, 2011 - 12:00am

Being back in Cairo reminds me that there are two parties in this region that have been untouched by the Arab Spring: the Israelis and the Palestinians. Too bad, because when it comes to ossified, unimaginative, oxygen-deprived governments, the Israelis and Palestinians are right up there with pre-revolutionary Egypt and Tunisia. I mean, is there anything less relevant than the prime minister of Israel going to the U.S. Congress for applause and the leader of the Palestinians going to the U.N. — instead of to each other?

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