Netanyahu and the freeze
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Nahum Barnea<br /> - (Opinion) September 13, 2010 - 12:00am

You screwed up, Netanyahu can say to Barack Obama following the president’s call over the weekend to extend the settlement construction freeze. The construction was frozen for a limited period of time – 10 months. The American Administration chose to accept this timeframe. It cannot show regret as this period draws to an end and ask for more. It’s not serious or credible.

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Who's bluffing: Abbas or Netanyahu?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Jackson Diehl - (Opinion) September 13, 2010 - 12:00am

The conventional wisdom about Mahmoud Abbas and Binyamin Netanyahu as they head into the second round of Mideast peace talks this week goes something like this: Abbas is a moderate who genuinely wants a two-state settlement but may be too weak politically to deliver. Netanyahu is a hawk who holds a commanding political position in Israel but doesn't really accept Palestinian statehood.

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What's so wrong with giving peace a chance?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Chicago Tribune
by Ron Grossman - (Opinion) September 13, 2010 - 12:00am

Perhaps never before has a bit of diplomatic theater received such ho-hum reviews as when Mahmoud Abbas and Benjamin Netanyahu had dinner at the White House earlier this month, unless the record belongs to a previous sit-down between Palestinian and Israeli leaders. And yet . . . The Middle East is the land of "and yet." It's been the sign-off phrase for myriad attempts to end decades of stalemate and violence.

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Hillary Clinton headed to Mideast for talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Politico
by Laura Rozen<br /> - September 13, 2010 - 12:00am

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton launches an intense week of Middle East diplomacy in Egypt Tuesday, joining Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for their next round of face-to-face peace talks. She begins in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, then plans to move on to Jerusalem on Wednesday and the West Bank and Jordan on Thursday.

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Peace Talks? What’s on TV?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Roger Cohen<br /> - (Opinion) September 13, 2010 - 12:00am

I recently went to a dinner here hosted by a charming Israeli couple, just back from Umbria with assorted Italian delicacies, and found the guests riveted not by the ritual of a new round of U.S.-mediated peace talks but by the climax of “A Star is Born.” We all rushed from the table to see 18-year-old Diana Golbi — a Russian immigrant born Diana Golbanova in Moscow — belt out her winning song on the Israeli version of “American Idol.” The runner-up, a Sephardic commander in the Israel Defense Forces named Idan Amedi, looked to the heavens and thanked God for second place.

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Clinton stresses urgency of Mideast talks despite focus on settlement moratorium
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Glenn Kessler<br /> - September 13, 2010 - 12:00am

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, making her first plunge into Middle East peacemaking, said she will prod Israeli and Palestinian leaders this week to press forward with talks, even with the Israeli moratorium on settlements expiring this month.

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Obama: Israeli-Palestinian peace talks might focus first on possible border
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Glenn Kessler - (Analysis) September 10, 2010 - 12:00am

President Obama on Friday signaled that Israeli and Palestinian negotiators might begin their peace talks by focusing on the potential border between the two states in order to overcome conflicts over Israeli settlement growth on the West Bank.

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Next round of talks to be split in Egypt, Jerusalem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
(Analysis) September 9, 2010 - 12:00am

WASHINGTON (Ma'an) -- US Mediators will meet in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm Ash-Sheikh on Tuesday, and then move Wednesday to Jerusalem where talks will continue. "The Egyptians have volunteered to host a round of direct negotiations," State Department spokesman Phillip Crowley told reporters Wednesday, and confirmed that a move to Jerusalem for a second day of talks had been agreed to during discussions the week before. Crowley gave no explanation for the change in location, which was expected to be Egypt for both days of talks.

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Give us a border!
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Aluf Benn - (Opinion) September 8, 2010 - 12:00am

The direct talks that were launched at the Washington summit should have one aim - to fix the border between Israel and the Palestinian state that will be set up in the West Bank. Israel needs a border that will delineate its borders, normalize its international status, end the dissent over the settlements and solidify the national consensus. This is Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's mission in life. If he succeeds, he will have justified his return to power and go down in history as a formative leader.

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Obama, Clinton call on US Jews, Muslims to back talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Hilary Leila Krieger - September 8, 2010 - 12:00am

US President Barack Obama indicated he understood recent Palestinian statements threatening to quit the peace process and rejecting compromise as political posturing, according to rabbis on a White House conference call Tuesday. Obama, who spoke with rabbis of various denominations in a call marking Rosh Hashanah, was asked by a participant about comments from Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas perceived in Israel as hostile to the negotiating process he launched with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu just last Thursday.

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