Conflicting Demands Test Netanyahu
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Ethan Bronner - March 25, 2010 - 12:00am

After contentious meetings in the White House, Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, returned home on Thursday with the politically explosive task of responding to an unyielding American demand that he limit Israeli building in East Jerusalem.

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J'lem building c'tee meetings frozen
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
March 24, 2010 - 12:00am

Since the furor when plans to build 1,600 new housing units in east Jerusalem's Ramat Shlomo were announced during Vice President Joe Biden's visit to Israel, all discussions by the Jerusalem Regional Planning and Building Committee over new construction in the capital have been frozen, it was announced Wednesday. Jerusalem Municipality official Yair Gabai made the statement in an interview with Army Radio, and it was later confirmed by the Interior Ministry. "Unfortunately, since Biden's visit, all committee meetings have been frozen until further notice," said Gabai.

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Israel Confirms New Building in East Jerusalem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Isabel Kershner - March 24, 2010 - 12:00am

With strains still high between Israel and the United States over the issue of Jewish settlements, construction of a contentious Jewish housing project in a predominantly Arab neighborhood of East Jerusalem could start at any time, Israeli officials and experts said Wednesday Jerusalem city hall gave the project the final go-ahead on March 18, days after city officials said the landowners had paid the required fees. Once the fees were paid, City Hall said in a statement on Wednesday, “approval was granted automatically.”

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U.S., Israel fail to reach agreement on Israeli settlement plan
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
March 24, 2010 - 12:00am

The United States did not reach agreement with Israel over the latter's settlement plan after two days of visit by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday. The talks between Netanyahu and U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell concluded but did not heal the dispute between the two countries, U.S. officials were quoted by the Associated Press as saying. The officials, who refused to be named, said the two sides were trying to find ways to get Israeli-Palestinian peace talks back on track and Netanyahu had prolonged his stay with an hope for an agreement.

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Amid Public Clash, U.S. Moves Israel Closer to Talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
by Nathan Guttman - March 24, 2010 - 12:00am

Under the klieg lights, American officials calmly repeated their opposition to key policies of Israel’s current government. Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu snorted defiance in the face of the American warnings. And nothing appeared to change. But as high-profile leadership meetings and major policy speeches fixated the public during the annual conference of American Jewry’s primary pro-Israel lobby, U.S. officials moved the ball steadily, if incrementally, forward toward substantive negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.

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Netanyahu's reluctant gift to Palestine
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Hussein Ibish - (Opinion) March 24, 2010 - 12:00am

The Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu is not being honest with his fellow Israelis by insisting that settlement building is compatible with a peaceful future between Israelis and Palestinians, or that the colonisation of occupied East Jerusalem "in no way harms" Palestinians and is not in any sense different from building in Tel Aviv.

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No sign of breakthrough in Netanyahu-Obama meeting
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
March 24, 2010 - 12:00am

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Barack Obama met twice during a dramatic evening in the White House, but no signs emerged of a breakthrough in a row over Jewish settlements. Obama hosted Netanyahu in the Oval Office late Tuesday for 90 minutes, but with the two sides embroiled in their most testy disagreement in years, unusually did not appear before the cameras with his visitor. As an evening of intense diplomacy developed, Netanyahu then asked to consult privately with his staff, a US official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

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PA cabinet: No return to violence
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
March 23, 2010 - 12:00am

During its weekly cabinet meeting on Monday, the Palestinian government in Ramallah condemned the killing of four Palestinians in Nablus in less than 24 hours by Israel forces. The cabinet also condemned Israeli military strikes on the Gaza Strip.

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U.S. to convey Israeli responses to Palestinians this week: official
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
March 23, 2010 - 12:00am

The Palestinian leadership will on Thursday receive Israeli explanations through Washington over a U.S. offer to lead indirect talks between Israel and the Palestinians, a Palestinian official said Tuesday. The offer was approved earlier this month, but Israeli plans to expand a Jewish settlement in disputed East Jerusalem shed more doubts on the success of the proximity negotiations before they started.

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Blundering toward disaster
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by David Horovitz - (Analysis) March 23, 2010 - 12:00am

They applauded her entrance. They applauded intermittently throughout her speech. The loudest and most sustained ovation, predictably, came when she demanded that “Gilad Schalit must be released immediately and reunited with his family.” Overall, the reception, if not euphoric, was warm.

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