Lieberman has become irrelevant
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - (Opinion) July 6, 2009 - 12:00am

It's been 100 days since Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government was sworn-in, and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman's impact on foreign policy has been negligible. Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak have been handling ties with the U.S.; President Shimon Peres has been in charge of dealing with the Arab world and Lieberman and his office have faded into irrelevance.

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'U.S. can't get Arabs to commit to normal Israel ties'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Matthew Lee, Cnaan Liphshiz - July 2, 2009 - 12:00am

The U.S. administration has not been successful in securing commitments from Arab countries to take steps toward normalizing relations with Israel, a senior source in Jerusalem said Wednesday. The source said U.S. President Barack Obama's recent meeting with King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia did not produce a commitment to encourage the other Arab states to begin normalization. "In such a situation, the Americans can't continue demanding gestures only from Israel, such as the demand that Israel freeze settlement construction," the source said.

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Experts Voice New Hope for Solution to Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Voice of America
by Mohamed Elshinnawi - June 29, 2009 - 12:00am

In the wake of U.S. President Barack Obama's June 4th speech to the Muslim world and the Israeli prime minister's recent acceptance of a conditional Palestinian state, hopes have risen for a resumption of talks aimed at resolving the long-running Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

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Israel alone cannot block peace progress
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
(Opinion) June 28, 2009 - 12:00am

Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, is attempting to drum up support for his peace plan. He claimed that Europe had responded favourably to his conditions for a peaceable resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: the recognition of Israel as a Jewish state, a refusal to resettle Palestinian refugees within Israel proper and that any future Palestinian state would be denied the right to an army or control over its borders and airspace.

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U.S. Rejects Hamas Criticism Middle East Peace Process Too Slow
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bloomberg
by Paul Tighe - June 26, 2009 - 12:00am

June 26 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. rejected criticism by the leader of the Palestinian Hamas group that the Middle East peace process is too slow, saying it is trying to bring all parties back to talks. “We’re encouraging all parties to take steps that will lead to a positive context, that will lead to renewed negotiations,” State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said at a briefing in Washington.

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Olmert offered to withdraw from 93% of West Bank
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Aluf Benn, Barak Ravid - June 23, 2009 - 12:00am

Former prime minister Ehud Olmert offered Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas that the Holy Basin area of Jerusalem would be under no sovereignty at all and administered by a joint committee of Saudis, Jordanians, Israelis, Palestinians and Americans, the former prime minister told Newsweek magazine in an interview in the current issue.

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Create a real American coalition on Middle East peace
In Print by Hussein Ibish - The Daily Star (Opinion) - June 23, 2009 - 12:00am

For years now, my colleagues and I at the American Task Force on Palestine have argued that advocates of a two-state resolution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict need to form a real, functioning national coalition in the United States to support this goal. President Barack Obama has put a great deal of his political credibility and capital on the line in pursuit of negotiated resolution, forcefully articulating what all parties must do to build momentum toward this goal.

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Russia set to hold Middle East peace summit this year
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
June 23, 2009 - 12:00am

Russia's president on Tuesday said that Moscow aimed to hold a Middle East peace conference before the end of 2009 - a move backed by Egypt. Russia, which has proposed such a conference in the past, is a member of the Quartet of Middle East negotiators, along with the European Union, the United States and the United Nations. "We paid special attention to Middle East issues. We highly appreciate efforts by the Egyptian president to create an atmosphere of trust and cooperation in the region," Dmitry Medvedev said after talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

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Israel's Barak sees chance for peace progress
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Cynthia Johnston - June 21, 2009 - 12:00am

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Sunday he saw a chance to advance peace talks with Palestinians and that a policy speech by Israel's premier, dismissed by Egypt as flawed, was a major step forward. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu endorsed -- with tough conditions -- the establishment of a demilitarized Palestinian state in a policy speech a week ago, but Cairo said the proposal fell short of the Palestinian state Arabs seek.

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After Bibi’s Speech: A Shift To Quiet Talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
by Nathan Guttman - June 18, 2009 - 12:00am

The Obama administration now seems poised to ease its public pressure on Israel following Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s acceptance of a two-state solution to his country’s conflict with the Palestinians. Following Netanyahu’s much awaited June 14 speech addressing America’s concerns about the policies of his new government, Israeli diplomats said they sensed a new willingness within the administration to “find creative solutions” to the issue of Jewish settlement activity in the Israeli occupied West Bank that would allow some limited building to continue.

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