Netanyahu runs a victory lap – but what has he won?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Tony Karon - (Opinion) September 27, 2009 - 12:00am

Say this for Benjamin Netanyahu: he’s not short on chutzpah. He may be the leader of a country whose occupation of conquered territory has put it on the wrong side of UN resolutions for the past 42 years – and was accused of war crimes in a UN human rights report just this month – but that didn’t stop him from sticking a finger in the eye of a US president trying to broker an end to the Middle East’s most toxic conflict, or from rounding on members of the UN General Assembly who dared sit through a vicious speech by the Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

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Palestinians rule out talks until total settlement freeze
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Financial Times
by Harvey Morris - September 25, 2009 - 12:00am

The Palestinian leadership yesterday ruled out a future meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister, unless he met demands for a total freeze on Jewish settlements, in a setback for President Barack Obama's troubled efforts to relaunch peace negotiations. Riyad al-Maliki, the Palestinian Authority foreign minister, told reporters: "No one is talking about a new meeting" between Mr Netanyahu and Mahmoud Abbas, the PA president.

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Toward peace in the Middle East
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Aaron David Miller - (Analysis) September 25, 2009 - 12:00am

Watching Tuesday's three-way meeting in New York between President Obama, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas -- and the administration's effort to spin it into a success -- reminded me that when breakthroughs in Arab-Israeli peacemaking come, they come with unforeseen and unpredictable urgency driven by big men and big events.

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Think Again: Palestine
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy
by Zahi Khouri - (Opinion) September 25, 2009 - 12:00am

"Economic Peace Is Possible." No. Neither sustainable economic development nor peace is possible without political freedom.

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Rahm Emanuel: Obama summit was not just a photo opportunity
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Akiva Eldar - September 25, 2009 - 12:00am

Israeli and Palestinian leaders must move quickly to take advantage of this "unique moment" for making peace, following their meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama earlier this week, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel said in an interview Thursday with Charlie Rose on American public television station PBS. The three-way meeting between Obama, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas was not a photo op, Emanuel said.

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Souvenir photo at the UN
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
by Rami Khouri - (Opinion) September 25, 2009 - 12:00am

No concrete results were expected from the September 22 meeting held at the United Nations by US President Barack Obama, Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. This marks the end of phase 1 of Obama’s intriguing foray into Arab-Israeli peacemaking.

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The Prospect for a Breakthrough
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Israel Policy Forum
by Alon Ben-meir - (Opinion) September 25, 2009 - 12:00am

Although the Obama administration's efforts to resume the Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations have not, as yet, produced tangible results, the prospect for a breakthrough in negotiations may be closer today than it has been in many years. Notwithstanding the inherent skepticism about the prospect of real progress, the conversion of certain regional and international developments have altered the political dynamic and created a new set of opportunities for a negotiated settlement.

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Israeli, Palestinian negotiators to meet in New York Thursday
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
September 24, 2009 - 12:00am

The first meeting of the Palestinian and Israeli negotiation teams will be held in New York on Thursday, sources said. According to the Hebrew Israeli daily paper Ma’ariv, heading the Israeli team will be aide to the Israeli prime minister, Yitzhak Mulkho. Heading the Palestinian team is Chief Negotiator for the Palestine Liberation Organization Dr Saeb Erekat.

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Abbas: Partial halt on settlement activity is not a freeze
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Avi Issacharoff - September 24, 2009 - 12:00am

Just days after meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Barack Obama in New York, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Thursday that he saw no common ground on which to renew peace negotiations. In an interview with the Al-Hayyat daily, Abbas called the Netanyahu government "a real problem." The Palestinian leader added that he could not agree to Israel's compromise for a partial settlement freeze, which he said inherently implied continued construction. Advertisement

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Netanyahu: No peace until Palestinians accept Israel as Jewish state
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Natasha Mozgovaya - September 24, 2009 - 12:00am

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Haaretz on Wednesday that he would not agree to a Palestinian demand that Israel accept the 1967 borders as a condition for renewing peace negotiations. Netanyahu also gave a condition of his own, saying Thursday that he would never drop his demand that the Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish state. "I told Abu Mazen [Abbas] I believe peace hinges first on his readiness to stand before his people and say, 'We ... are committed to recognizing Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people'," Netanyahu said.

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