Israel Vows to ‘Take Risks’ in Talks With Palestinians
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Kyle Crichton, Isabel Kershner - July 9, 2010 - 12:00am

Declaring that he intended to “confound the critics and the skeptics,” an upbeat Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel told an audience of foreign policy experts in New York on Thursday that he was ready to begin direct peace talks with the Palestinians “next week” or even sooner. “Just get on with it,” he said.

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Palestinians brace for US pressure after Netanyahu's White House visit
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Joshua Mitnick - July 9, 2010 - 12:00am

It's an axiom of Arab-Israeli peacemaking that the new rapport between President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would leave Palestinians in an awkward spot. After the Obama administration pushed Mr. Netanyahu over the past year to rein in West Bank settlements, there are signals in the wake of Netanyahu's White House visit on Tuesday that US pressure could shift to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

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Palestinians say Israeli PM’s call for direct talks is just a ploy
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Omar Karmi - July 9, 2010 - 12:00am

From Ramallah to Gaza, Palestinian reactions to the announcement by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his visit to Washington that Israel wants to move immediately to direct negotiations may best be described as a collective shrug of the shoulders. There is “nothing new” in any of the statements that have come out of Washington, said Ghassan Khatib, head of the Palestinian government’s media office in Ramallah.

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Analysis: Finally, presidential empathy
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by David Horovitz - July 9, 2010 - 12:00am

Watching Barack Obama work his charismatic magic on Channel 2 interviewer Yonit Levy on Thursday night, and through her on the Israeli public, one was quickly reminded afresh of how it was that this remarkable politician defied immensely improbable odds to become president.

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Netanyahu: Mideast deal possible in year if direct peace talks start
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - July 9, 2010 - 12:00am

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the Council on Foreign Relations in New York on Thursday that if direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority begin, it would be possible to reach a peace deal within a year. In his speech to the prestigious foreign-policy think tank, Netanyahu stressed that he did not return to the post of prime minister in order to do nothing and said he was willing to make unprecedented concessions.

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Fatah leader says no progress in proximity talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
July 9, 2010 - 12:00am

A senior Fatah leader said here on Thursday that the Israeli-Palestinians proximity talks did not yield any progress that meets previously set conditions. The meeting between U.S. President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington on Tuesday did not provide any good signs, Nabil Shaath, a Fatah Central Committee member, told reporters in Cairo after meeting with Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa.

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Obama ignores the obvious by backing Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
(Editorial) July 8, 2010 - 12:00am

In observing Israeli leaders and their much-touted peace overtures over the years, it has always been wise to hew to the maxim: “Watch what they do, not what they say.” The reason, of course, is that Israeli officials are marvellously adept at telling outsiders keen on a just and fair settlement with the Palestinians exactly what they want to hear – even as they condone and carry out measures that undermine such a settlement.

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Netanyahu hints at flexibility on Jerusalem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
by Uriel Heilman - July 8, 2010 - 12:00am

It was an otherwise wholly unremarkable stump speech before a friendly audience in New York. On Wednesday evening at Manhattan’s Plaza Hotel, the Israeli prime minister addressed a roomful of about 200 Jews on the subjects of Iran, his government’s eagerness for direct peace talks with the Palestinians and the swell meeting he had just had with President Obama at the White House.

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ATFP President on MSNBC
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from MSNBC
(Interview) July 8, 2010 - 12:00am

Dr. Ziad Asali appears on MSNBC to comment on President Obama's meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu.

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President Obama's new Middle East course has promise
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
(Editorial) July 8, 2010 - 12:00am

FOR MUCH of the past 15 months, President Obama sought to advance his goal of a Middle East peace settlement through public pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. The results were mixed. Mr. Netanyahu made significant concessions to the White House, including announcing for the first time his acceptance of Palestinian statehood and imposing a 10-month freeze on new construction in West Bank settlements. But Mr.

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