Kerry's Impromptu Meeting With Abbas
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast
by Andrea Stone - March 5, 2013 - 1:00am

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.

»

Things you can't see from DC
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Giora Eiland - (Opinion) March 4, 2013 - 1:00am

US President Obama and Secretary of State Kerry are expected to visit the region together in late March to try and promote an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement. It is amazing to see how American policy has not changed in 20 years. Each administration creates expectations regarding a solution to the conflict without reassessing it and asking the basic question: Why have the peace efforts failed so far?  

»

Kerry and Abbas hold surprise meet in Riyadh to discuss Israeli-Palestinian talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Jack Khoury, Barak Ravid - March 4, 2013 - 1:00am

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met for unplanned talks on Monday afternoon, as part of their coinciding visits to Saudi Arabia. Abbas' own trip to the capital Riyadh to meet King Abdullah was unexpected, and may have been coordinated to overlap with Kerry's. The lunch meeting, which was added to Kerry's schedule at the last-minute on Monday morning, focused on efforts to resume the diplomatic process between Israel and the Palestinians and on U.S. President Barack Obama's upcoming visit to the region.

»

Dennis Ross: Netanyahu's attorney in Washington
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from 972 Magazine
by Noam Sheizaf - (Opinion) March 4, 2013 - 1:00am

Veteran U.S. diplomat Dennis Ross had a full page op-ed in The New York Times this weekend, in which he presents a 14-step program that is supposed to establish a framework for renewing the diplomatic process.

»

The Myth of the Missed Opportunity In Israeli-Arab Peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Monitor
by Akiva Eldar - (Opinion) March 4, 2013 - 1:00am

The month of March holds out the promise of abundant political opportunities. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected, in all likelihood, to form his third government; President Barack Obama is coming on his first visit as a sitting president to Israel, the West Bank and Jordan, and immediately after that the summit meeting of the Arab League is convening in Doha. As it does every year, the summit will likely ratify the Arab Peace Initiative born in Beirut more than 10 years ago.

»

New Israeli coalition will have to freeze construction outside settlement blocs, Netanyahu's aides say
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - March 3, 2013 - 1:00am

Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu received 14 more days to form a new government Saturday, but his efforts to form a coalition seemed likely to be complicated by the likelihood of a new settlement construction freeze to improve Israel's inter

»

Can Obama make a substantive contribution to peace?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Larry Snider - (Opinion) March 3, 2013 - 1:00am

There are countless traps laid out like a mine field awaiting the return of Barack Obama to substantive engagement in the peace process that will commence with his upcoming visit to Jerusalem, Ramallah and Amman. Peace and the search for peace have failed presidents, prime ministers, diplomats, pundits and activists of every conceivable stripe. What can change in 2013 to make peace achievable?

»

To Achieve Mideast Peace, Suspend Disbelief
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Dennis Ross - (Opinion) March 2, 2013 - 1:00am

THESE are hard times for trying to promote, much less make, peace between Palestinians and Israelis. The rise of political Islam, Syria’s civil war and looming implosion, and the Iranian nuclear imbroglio not only dominate the environment, but they also render it forbidding for peacemaking. And while all these factors make Israelis and Palestinians reluctant to take risks for peace, they do not represent the biggest hurdle for ending the conflict. The most fundamental problem between Israelis and Palestinians is the problem of disbelief.

»

Winners in Israel's game-changing election unlikely to lead charge for peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Christian Science Monitor
by Joshua Mitnick - March 1, 2013 - 1:00am

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is still without a coalition more than a month after winning parliamentary elections, but amid the political horsetrading the next government's agenda is coming into view.

»

A campaign to talk up a two-state solution
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Ghaith Al-Omari, David Makovsky - (Opinion) February 28, 2013 - 1:00am

The White House announcement that President Obama will not bring a peace initiative on his upcoming trip to Israel and the West Bank reinforces the sense that he sees the visit as an opportunity to reset ties with both the Israeli and Palestinian peoples at the start of his second term.

»


American Task Force on Palestine - 1634 Eye St. NW, Suite 725, Washington DC 20006 - Telephone: 202-262-0017