Lots of listening, no grand initiatives expected on Obama’s Mideast trip
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
by Ron Kampeas, Ben Sales - March 12, 2013 - 12:00am

When President Obama visits Israel next week, Gavriel Yaakov wants him to jump-start the peace process. “I’m excited,” said Yaakov, 67, sitting in a Tel Aviv mall. “I want negotiations to get to an agreement on a long-term peace with the Palestinians.” Yaakov said he trusts Obama, but his friend, Yossi Cohen, is more skeptical. “I’m not excited,” said Cohen, 64, who charged that the president supports Islamists and “hasn't done anything” to prevent an Iranian nuclear weapon.

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Flawed Questions About Israel's Right To Exist
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast
by Mira Sucharov - March 12, 2013 - 12:00am

In the New York Times, Joseph Levine has set out to answer a question that is widely considered taboo within the mainstream, but which is increasingly heard as a mantra within anti-Zionist circles: does Israel have a right to exist?

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Is Obama Bringing a Peace Plan?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line
by Linda Gradstein - March 11, 2013 - 12:00am

Over and over, American officials insist that President Obama has no new Israeli-Palestinian peace plan hidden in his pocket, ready to be whipped out during next week’s meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. But Palestinians hope and Israelis fear that he will try to restart a peace process that has been moribund for the past four years.

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The End of the Two-State Solution: Why the window is closing on Middle-East peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New Republic
by Ben Birnbaum - (Opinion) March 11, 2013 - 12:00am

One Friday evening last November, Mahmoud Abbas made a rare appearance on the popular Israeli TV station, Channel 2. In his boxy suit and tie, the Palestinian president looked every bit his 77 years, his olive skin tinged with gray, his voice soft and whispery. He shifted in his seat with every answer.

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Kerry's Impromptu Meeting With Abbas
Media Mention of Hussein Ibish In The Daily Beast - March 11, 2013 - 12:00am

John Kerry’s unscheduled meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Monday during his first official trip abroad was anything but a rogue moment for the new secretary of State.

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Obama in Israel: The start of a new era?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Los Angeles Times
by Ami Ayalon - (Opinion) March 8, 2013 - 1:00am

Israel, I fear, is on a suicidal path: It could cease to be the democratic home of the Jewish people.

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Savir's Corner: The day after
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Uri Savir - (Editorial) March 7, 2013 - 1:00am

With the historic visit of President Barack Obama to Israel, the Palestinian Authority and Jordan at the end of the month, it seems that leaders in our region are thinking along the lines of “life before Obama” and “life after Obama.” One can safely assume that both Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and PA President Mahmoud Abbas cannot wait for the day the American president returns to Washington.

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Palestinian leadership not to revive peace talks before Obama's visit: official
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
March 6, 2013 - 1:00am

The Palestinian leadership has no intentions to revive peace talks with Israel ahead of U.S. President Barack Obama's Middle East trip this month, a Palestinian official said Wednesday. "The Palestinian-U.S. contacts to prepare for Obama's visit were limited to explaining the Palestinian position and the requirements of resuming peace process," said Mohammed Ishteya, a member of the Palestinian negotiating team.

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The (Very) Quiet Peace Talks Between Israel and Hamas
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New Republic
by Efraim Halevy - (Opinion) March 6, 2013 - 1:00am

The recent news out of the Middle East has been grim. But, if there's an atmosphere of pessimism in the international press, that's because the real story hasn't been earning any attention—intentionally so. We can all read about Hamas's daily maligning of Israel, and its promises to put an end to Jewish sovereignty in the Holy Land, just as we can read about Israeli officials continuing to demand that Hamas recognize the right of Israel (including Jerusalem) to exist, knowing full well that no devout Muslim has ever done so, or can ever do so.

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Obama is promoting, not proposing, peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Douglas Bloomfield - (Opinion) March 6, 2013 - 1:00am

resident Barack Obama plans to go to the Middle East in two weeks, and the Israeli Left and the Palestinians are praying he’ll be bringing an American peace initiative. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and the Israeli Right are praying he won’t. Even if he wanted to, President Obama knows another US peace push wouldn’t work. All the rhetoric aside – and it really is little more than rhetoric – neither side is interested in, much less ready for, serious peace talks.

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