US envoy plans more talks with Abbas, Netanyahu
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman
by Mohammed Daraghmeh - September 30, 2010 - 12:00am

RAMALLAH, West Bank — A U.S. emissary racing against the clock to salvage Mideast peace negotiations scheduled another quick round of meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leaders after talks Thursday with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas ended inconclusively. Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are deadlocked over Israeli settlement construction. Earlier this week, Netanyahu refused to extend a 10-month-old moratorium on housing starts in West Bank settlements. Abbas has warned he'll quit U.S.-sponsored peace talks unless the moratorium is extended.

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News Analysis: New Intifada may not erupt if talks between Israel, PNA fail
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
by Saud Abu Ramadan, Emad Drimly - September 30, 2010 - 12:00am

GAZA, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- The ten-month moratorium to freeze settlement construction in the West Bank and Jerusalem ended on Sunday. Currently the Israeli government has not offered any statement on whether or not to resume settlement construction. The unclear Israeli stance over the issue of settlement, has left the Palestinian side reluctant to make their mind as they decided to wait until the upcoming meeting of the Arab League (AL) Committee on peace talks with Israel to be held on Oct. 4 in Cairo.

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'Obama guarantees Bibi: Only 2 more months of freeze'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Yitzhak Benhorin - September 30, 2010 - 12:00am

The Obama administration is pressing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to extend the settlement construction moratorium by two months, Jewish senators were told at a White House briefing.

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U.S. Presses Israelis on Renewal of Freeze
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Ethan Bronner, Helene Cooper, Mark Landler - (Analysis) September 30, 2010 - 12:00am

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is trying to cajole the Israeli government into a 60-day renewal of the freeze on Jewish settlement building by offering it security guarantees, ranging from military hardware to support for a long-term Israeli presence in the strategically sensitive Jordan Valley, according to lawmakers and other officials briefed on the proposals.

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White House offers Israel a carrot for peace talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Glenn Kessler - (Analysis) September 30, 2010 - 12:00am

In its scramble to salvage Middle East peace talks, the Obama administration has dangled incentives before the Israeli government that touch on some of the most sensitive issues of final status talks between the two sides, administration sources said.

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U.S. Presses Israelis on Renewal of Freeze
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Ethan Bronner, Helene Cooper, Mark Landler - September 30, 2010 - 12:00am

The Obama administration is trying to cajole the Israeli government into a 60-day renewal of the freeze on Jewish settlement building by offering it security guarantees, ranging from military hardware to support for a long-term Israeli presence in the strategically sensitive Jordan Valley, according to lawmakers and other officials briefed on the proposals.

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White House offers Israel a carrot for peace talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Glenn Kessler - September 30, 2010 - 12:00am

In its scramble to salvage Middle East peace talks, the Obama administration has dangled incentives before the Israeli government that touch on some of the most sensitive issues of final status talks between the two sides, administration sources said.

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EU's Ashton to join Middle East peace push
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Jeff Mason, Andrew Quinn - September 29, 2010 - 12:00am

WASHINGTON, Sept 29 (Reuters) - European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said she would depart for the Middle East on Wednesday as diplomatic pressure intensified to save faltering Israel-Palestinian peace talks. "I'm going to the Middle East tonight and and I'll meet (U.S. Middle East peace envoy) George Mitchell when I land tomorrow," Ashton told Reuters in an interview in Washington, adding that she also planned to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

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How did They Deceive Abu-Mazen?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
by Abdul Rahman Al-Rashed - (Opinion) September 29, 2010 - 12:00am

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas deserves the award for the world's Worst Negotiator. Currently, he can celebrate one of two possibilities: either negotiations will be terminated, or settlement construction will be suspended. Despite my appreciation of the noble man, he made a mistake by simplifying the demands of the Palestinian people into one request; namely that all settlement constructions are ceased. This has now become the highest of his ambitions.

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U.S. Jews outraged by Lieberman's UN speech on population exchange
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid, Shlomo Shamir - (Analysis) September 29, 2010 - 12:00am

Many American Jewish leaders fumed Wednesday when Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman proposed "an exchange of populated territory" as part of a Mideast peace deal in a speech before the UN General Assembly in New York. Lieberman suggested ceding parts of Israel with large Arab populations to a future Palestinian state in exchange for Israel keeping large settlement blocs in the West Bank, a proposal which has been part of his party's platform.

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