Israel's Livni faces rough road in peace push with Palestinians
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Jeffrey Heller - (Analysis) February 20, 2013 - 1:00am

Tzipi Livni's coalition pact with right-winger Benjamin Netanyahu speaks volumes about the obstacles ahead for the moderate former Israeli foreign minister in her new task of pursuing peace with the Palestinians. Expectations of a new peacemaking initiative have been raised by a planned visit to Israel, the West Bank and Jordan next month by U.S. President Barack Obama, who has clashed with Netanyahu over the prime minister's policy of expanding settlements on occupied land Palestinians want for a state.

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Tzipi Livni 'won't be fig leaf' for Netanyahu if he doesn't want peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Ian Black - (Opinion) February 20, 2013 - 1:00am

Tzipi Livni's appointment as Israel's justice minister is a significant first step in Binyamin "Bibi" Netanyahu's laborious construction of a new coalition government. Giving her the additional role of chief negotiator with the Palestinians appears designed to indicate a readiness to re-engage in the moribund peace process.

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Palestinians to ask that Obama personally kickstart peace process
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Jack Khoury - February 19, 2013 - 1:00am

Palestinian Authority representatives are expected to request the personal involvement of United States President Barack Obama in the Mideast peace process when they arrive in Washington on Wednesday. The PA representatives are even expected to even ask that Obama present his own initiative that will contain a formula that will allow both Israel and the PA to return to the negotiating table.

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Moving past stalemate in the Middle East
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Los Angeles Times
by Maen Areikat - (Opinion) February 19, 2013 - 1:00am

With the U.S.

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Obama's best and worst-case scenarios for Israel's new government
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Bradley Burston - (Opinion) February 19, 2013 - 1:00am

For Benjamin Netanyahu, it wasn't supposed to break this way.  Four months ago, when he called early elections, advisers assured the prime minister that his best-case scenario was also among the most likely:

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Vain hope springs eternal
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Moshe Arens - (Opinion) February 19, 2013 - 1:00am

"Hope springs eternal," wrote Alexander Pope, in "An Essay on Man." And so it is with Israel's hope for peace with the Palestinians. After every disappointment, hope rises again. When Yasser Arafat seemingly renounced terrorism at a press conference in Geneva in December 1988, we wanted to believe him. We signed the Oslo Accords in 1993, brought him and his minions from Tunis to Gaza and Ramallah - only to find that he had by no means abandoned terrorism.

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Free Marwan Barghouti
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Amnon Shamosh - (Opinion) February 18, 2013 - 1:00am

According to my understanding of the changing Middle East, the only person who can be elected enthusiastically by both segments of the Palestinian nation and be a real partner for peace is Marwan Barghhouti.

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Israel-Palestine Interim Agreements Block Final Deal
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Monitor
by Akiva Eldar - (Opinion) February 18, 2013 - 1:00am

The director of one of the top UN agencies operating in the West Bank told me about a fascinating conversation he had with a senior Israeli Defense Forces officer. “Do you know the difference between Areas A, B and C?” the officer asked. “Of course,” the UN director responded, citing published details of the 1995 Interim Agreement between Israel and the Palestinians (also known as Oslo II).

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Better Late than Never?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Weekly Standard
by Elliott Abrams - February 18, 2013 - 1:00am

 

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Israel, PA lobbying US before Obama's visit
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Khaled Abu Toameh, Herb Keinon - February 17, 2013 - 1:00am

The Palestinian Authority on Sunday dispatched two senior officials to Washington to brief the US administration on its stance regarding the resumption of peace talks with Israel.

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