Mapping the possible Netanyahu-Obama fault lines
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
by Ron Kampeas - (Analysis) April 7, 2009 - 12:00am

There are no fissures yet between the young Obama and Netanyahu administrations, but political geologists are mapping the fault lines. So far, two major potentials for quakes have emerged, both having to do with timing: One concerns the pace of negotiating Palestinian statehood; the other has to do with projections about when Iran's alleged nuclear program becomes irrevocably dangerous.

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Build on Bush's Middle East progress
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Robert Zelnick - March 4, 2009 - 1:00am

George W. Bush made his greatest Middle East mistake before becoming president. Had he embraced rather than disowned Bill Clinton's desperate efforts to secure an agreement, Israeli and Palestinian leaders might have gone the extra mile to accommodate the new administration. The tragedy of the second intifada might have been averted. The seizure of Gaza by Hamas might never have occurred.

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Clinton says two-state solution 'inescapable' for Middle East
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Times
by James Hider - March 4, 2009 - 1:00am

Hillary Clinton threw herself into the turmoil of the Middle East crisis yesterday by backing the creation of a Palestinian state despite opposition from the incoming Israeli Government. The US Secretary of State also dispatched high-level envoys to Syria to discern the opportunities for regional talks.

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Netanyahu's naysaying
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
March 3, 2009 - 1:00am

United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's debut trip to the Middle East will be depicted - as usual - as a "familiarization tour," aimed at meeting with regional leaders and listening to their ideas. However, there should be no mistake about Clinton's message: President Barack Obama's administration expects the negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians to continue, with the aim of advancing a two-state solution and establishing an "independent and viable" Palestinian state in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

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Netanyahu faces moment of truth
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
by Leslie Susser - March 2, 2009 - 1:00am

Pressed to take a firm stand on the two-state solution, Benjamin Netanyahu’s moment of truth may have come sooner than he wanted. Despite strong international and domestic pressure, Israel's prime minister-designate is refusing to come out in support of the idea of two states for two peoples, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace. Ever since President Bush outlined his vision of two states in June 2002, the two-state solution has been consensus international policy and the basis for Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

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The Path of Realism or the Path of Failure
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Weekly Standard
by Elliott Abrams - March 2, 2009 - 1:00am

Repetition of failed experiments is not a sign of mental health or a path to scientific progress, nor is it a formula for Israeli-Palestinian peace. Yet that is the road we may again take, unless the lessons of the Bush years are learned.

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Israel Plans to Double Size of Settlements in Palestinian Territory
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Middle East Times
by Sana Abdallah - March 2, 2009 - 1:00am

One day before Hillary Clinton begins her maiden visit to Israel and the West Bank as the U.S. secretary of state, an Israeli peace group announced more settlement expansion plans on Palestinian territories, posing an even tougher challenge to the new American administration's peace endeavors. In a report released on Monday, Peace Now said the Israeli authorities have plans for 73,302 new housing units in Jewish settlements, which would double the number of settlers in the occupied territory and blow the chances for a two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

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http://www.gulfnews.com/opinion/columns/region/10290602.html
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News
by Ban Ki-Moon - March 1, 2009 - 1:00am

The widespread destruction and suffering that marked the fighting in and around Gaza between December 27, 2008 and January 18, 2009 affected civilian populations of Gaza and southern Israel the worst. The people of Gaza, who have endured untold hardship for years, were subjected to still greater misery, leaving them to face an already uncertain future with greater anxiety and despair. I personally felt the extent of the indignities facing the people when I visited Gaza two days after the ceasefire had been declared and what I saw and heard left me deeply perturbed.

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A new beginning for Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News
by Ban Ki-Moon - March 1, 2009 - 1:00am

The widespread destruction and suffering that marked the fighting in and around Gaza between December 27, 2008 and January 18, 2009 affected civilian populations of Gaza and southern Israel the worst. The people of Gaza, who have endured untold hardship for years, were subjected to still greater misery, leaving them to face an already uncertain future with greater anxiety and despair. I personally felt the extent of the indignities facing the people when I visited Gaza two days after the ceasefire had been declared and what I saw and heard left me deeply perturbed.

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‘Israel misses the point’
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
by George S. Hishmeh - February 27, 2009 - 1:00am

Benjamin Netanyahu is not giving up, still hoping that he can entice Tzipi Livni and even Ehud Barak with key portfolios, should they accept to join his projected coalition government, or else, he must know fully well that his days as head of an Israeli government of extreme rightists will be numbered. Hence, the Palestinian-Israeli peace negotiations will remain at a standstill.

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