Israel's missed opportunities
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Khaled Diab - (Opinion) October 22, 2012 - 12:00am

It is 39 years since the 6th October/Yom Kippur war of 1973. After the peace talks in Geneva following the war, Israel’s then-foreign minister, Abba Eban, the ever-articulate founding father of Israeli diplomacy, quipped that, “The Arabs never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.”

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The general from Jeddah must shout louder
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Akiva Eldar - (Opinion) October 22, 2012 - 12:00am

About a month ago, I participated in one of the many seminars on the Arab Spring taking place around the world. One of the outstanding speakers was a retired general from the Saudi Arabian army who now heads a research institute in Jeddah. The general went out of his way to praise the Arab Peace Initiative that had been the brainchild of Saudi King Abdullah more than a decade ago.

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Obama and Romney need to confront, solve Israeli-Palestinian divisions
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Hill
by Ibrahim Abu Ta'a - (Blog) October 22, 2012 - 12:00am

I was born and raised in Jerusalem. Most of my work colleagues are Jewish, and despite the growing tension between Jews and Palestinians in Israel, years of working together have made us quite close. I speak Hebrew fluently, as well as my native Arabic, and I have always engaged my Jewish acquaintances with the same openness and respect I would give to anyone else.

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Israeli statesmen are the almost-peacemakers
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Gideon Levy - (Opinion) October 18, 2012 - 12:00am

Once every few years, usually before the elections, a story of this kind comes out. An Israeli statesman was a hairbreadth away from achieving peace. Had he only had two months more, even two weeks more, the great peace would have been signed, forever. Shimon Peres almost achieved peace with the London Agreement; Ehud Barak almost did so at Camp David; Ehud Olmert almost had it with Mahmoud Abbas, and with Bashar Assad too. Even Tzipi Livni came close with Ahmed Qureia, and the Oslo agreement was of course almost peace.

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Don't Neglect an Israeli-Palestinian Peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National Interest
by Paul Pillar - (Opinion) October 18, 2012 - 12:00am

Leon Hadar in these spaces has commended as a “sensible stance” toward the Israeli-Palestinian a policy, enunciated by a prominent American politician, that “we sort of live with it, and we kick the ball down the field and hope that ultimately, somehow, something will happen and resolve it.” Hadar criticizes “some self-proclaimed foreign-policy realists,” implying that their belief that “Washington can and ought to help make peace between Israelis and Palestinians” somehow contradicts realist criticisms of neocon ambitions to remake the Middle

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Moving on From Two-State Solution
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
by Edward Edy Kaufman, Paul Scham - (Opinion) October 16, 2012 - 12:00am

The current Israeli-Palestinian stalemate is as comprehensive as it is unprecedented. All relevant parties — Israelis, Palestinians (both Fatah and Hamas), the United States, the European Union, the Arab world — are preoccupied with their own internal or regional political or economic issues, not to mention the possibility of an Iranian nuclear bomb and Israeli threats to attack. The only good news is that Israeli-Palestinian violence is also largely on hiatus — though by no means gone, as rockets fired at southern Israel occasionally remind us.

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The Lessons of Novembers Past
In Print by Hussein Ibish - Ynetnews (Opinion) - October 16, 2012 - 12:00am

Historically, November often signifies numerous crucial turning points in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The lessons of Novembers past demand close attention. Palestinians and Israelis can learn from them to address their differences and common future, and American leaders to be more balanced.

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Israeli DM denies reported meeting with Abbas in Jordan
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
October 16, 2012 - 12:00am

JERUSALEM, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- Israel's Defense Ministry on Tuesday denied a Palestinian report alleging that Minister Ehud Barak recently met with Palestinian National Authority (PNA) President Mahmoud Abbas in Jordan.

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Getting back to the negotiating table
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Jeff Barak - (Opinion) October 15, 2012 - 12:00am

Guess who wrote this and where it was first published: “The Arab Spring showed the world that the Palestinians are happier and in [a] better situation than their Arab brothers who fought to liberate them from the Israelis. Now, it is time to stop the hatred and wars and start to create better living conditions for the future Arab generations.”

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Abbas secretly meets Israeli minister
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
October 15, 2012 - 12:00am

RAMALLAH, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas secretly met Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak in Jordan Thursday, a Palestinian source revealed Monday. King Abdullah II of Jordan also participated in the meeting which was held in Amman, the source added. The meeting focused on efforts to resume peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians and their plans to seek a state recognition through the United Nations.

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