Three years since Netanyahu's Bar-Ilan speech: Was it for real?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - (Opinion) June 19, 2012 - 12:00am

Few noticed that last Thursday, June 14, was the third anniversary of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech at Bar-Ilan University during which he declared, for the first time, his willingness to accept "a demilitarized Palestinian state side by side with the Jewish state."

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The Siren Call of Israeli Unilateralism
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast
by Lara Friedman - (Opinion) June 18, 2012 - 12:00am

With Israeli-Palestinian efforts at an impasse and immediate-term hopes for progress toward any agreement fading, the appeal of new ideas is understandable. This is no doubt why discussion of Israeli unilateral options—generally in terms of unilateral “withdrawals” from the West Bank—is in the air.

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Former Israeli opposition leader charting his own foreign policy course
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
by Adam Gonn - (Analysis) June 17, 2012 - 12:00am

In his first major foreign policy speech, Israeli deputy Prime Minister and former opposition chairman Shaul Mofaz called on the Palestinians to sit down to launch unconditional talks with Israel. Mofaz's statement came only days after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas made remarks indicating that he might be willing to soften his demands on Israel before direct negotiations, which have been held up since September 2010, can resume.

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Abbas slams Israel's refusal to two-state principle, likely to meet senior Israeli official
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
June 17, 2012 - 12:00am

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday slammed Israel for not accepting the principle of two-state solution, as he is expected to meet early next month with Israeli Vice Prime Minister Shaul Mofaz. During a conference held in Ramallah, Abbas held Israel responsible for the deadlock of peace process, adding that " reviving the clinically dead peace process is in their hands." "The Israeli rejection to keep its commitment to the peace process would make the principle of two-state solution just an illusion," Abbas said.

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Erekat: Abbas to demand release of pre-Oslo prisoners
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
June 15, 2012 - 12:00am

President Mahmoud Abbas will demand the release of 123 long-term prisoners before agreeing to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat said Friday. Abbas wants Israel to free 123 prisoners detained before the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993, Erekat told Ma'an. Erekat also said Abbas may meet with Israel's deputy prime minister Shaul Mofaz although no date has been set. On Thursday, Mofaz called on for the immediate renewal of peace talks between Abbas and Netanyahu, the Israeli daily Haaretz reported.

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Efforts advanced for meeting between Abbas, Netanyahu: officials
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
June 14, 2012 - 12:00am

Senior Palestinian officials on Thursday asserted that there are advanced efforts together with Arab intervention and U.S. pressure to hold a meeting between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Yasser Abed Rabbo, secretary general of Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) executive committee, told Voice of Palestine Radio that there are "ideas" discussed to arrange for the meeting, which will be the first in one year and a half to reduce tension between the two sides.

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Despite it all, still committed to peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Gershon Baskin - (Opinion) June 12, 2012 - 12:00am

Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas told the French President Francois Hollande that if Israel releases weapons for his security forces and releases Palestinian prisoners he would be willing to meet in public with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. This statement is very peculiar. Both the demands and the promised outcome require a bit of analysis and inquiry.

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Jordan presses US to refocus on Israeli-Palestinian conflict before November election
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Hill
by Julian Pecquet - June 12, 2012 - 12:00am

The Obama administration needs to recommit to helping solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict or risk the ire of a whole generation of Arab youth demanding democratic change in the region, Jordan's foreign minister cautioned during a visit to Washington Tuesday. “You don't want to get to the U.S. election without something substantial in motion,” Nasser Judeh said in remarks at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Judeh addressed the think tank after meeting with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Monday.

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Abbas looking to break deadlock in negotiations with Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
by Adam Gonn - (Analysis) June 11, 2012 - 12:00am

Palestinian National Authority ( PNA) President Mahmoud Abbas said he might be willing to hold talks with Israel, if it frees Palestinian prisoners and allows for weapons to be transferred to Palestinian security forces. Abbas said that, since Israel has rejected both his previous demand to halt settlement construction on the West Bank or accept the cease-fire lines that existed prior to the 1967 war as the borders for a Palestinian state, he might be willing to attend talks if the new demands were meet.

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Israeli, Palestinian negotiators quietly meet
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman
by Mohammed Daraghmeh - June 10, 2012 - 12:00am

Israeli and Palestinian negotiators have been meeting quietly in recent weeks in hopes of ending a three-year standstill in peace efforts, both sides confirmed Sunday. Officials acknowledged the agenda of the recent talks has been modest, and stressed there is no breakthrough in sight. Nonetheless, the revelations gave a small sign of hope that a formula can be found to restart formal negotiations addressing core issues.

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