Israel sees deal soon with Obama over settlements
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Adam Entous - June 16, 2009 - 12:00am

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is negotiating a deal with Washington under which Israeli building in existing Jewish settlements could go forward in certain cases, Israeli and Western officials said on Tuesday. In talks with U.S. President Barack Obama's Middle East envoy, Netanyahu has asserted that his government does not have the legal authority to stop building in cases in which tenders for new structures have already been awarded or when homes under construction have already been purchased.

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PM insists life in W. Bank won't freeze
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
June 16, 2009 - 12:00am

A day after US President Barack Obama repeated his demand for a cessation of settlements, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu reiterated the Israeli settlement policy, which will not expand the territory of Jewish West Bank locales, but at the same time enable the Israelis living there "normal life" until a final agreement is reached, including expanding infrastructures in accordance to natural growth.

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Netanyahu's speech badly received across the Middle East
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Paul Woodward - June 16, 2009 - 12:00am

“The truth is that in the area of our homeland, in the heart of our Jewish Homeland, now lives a large population of Palestinians. We do not want to rule over them. We do not want to run their lives. We do not want to force our flag and our culture on them. In my vision of peace, there are two free peoples living side by side in this small land, with good neighbourly relations and mutual respect, each with its flag, anthem and government, with neither one threatening its neighbour’s security and existence,” said the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday.

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U.S. could yield on settlement freeze, says government source
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - June 16, 2009 - 12:00am

The U.S. administration is prepared to show flexibility on construction in West Bank settlements, a government source in Jerusalem says. The Americans will apparently not demand a full freeze on construction, but will agree that projects now underway can be completed, Israeli officials say. A week from Thursday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is to meet with U.S. special envoy George Mitchell in Paris to discuss the details.

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Documents suggest total settlement freeze is possible
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Akiva Eldar - June 16, 2009 - 12:00am

The report in Haaretz on Tuesday whereby the U.S. administration has become convinced that it would be impossible to freeze West Bank settlement construction altogether came as a shock to Israeli peace activists. The activists quickly handed over to the Americans documents proving the legal system's approval of a settlement freeze, containing High Court of Justice rulings in which the justices rejected petitions filed by settler organizations in a bid to prevent the settlement freeze.

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Rightists in response to Bibi's speech: We'll build more outposts
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Erfat Weiss - June 15, 2009 - 12:00am

Many settlers took a sigh of relief after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech on Sunday in which he made no mention of evacuating settlements. But Monday morning, right-wing activists announced that they were planning on building dozens of new outposts in the West Bank. "This is the appropriate Zionist response to Netanyahu's speech and (US President Barack) Obama's speech. The goal is to build new outposts and expand the existing ones," the rightists said in a statement.

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Poll: 56% of Israelis back settlement construction
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
June 12, 2009 - 12:00am

Nearly six of every 10 Israelis think Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should resist U.S. demands to completely freeze construction in Jewish West Bank settlements, according to a new poll released Friday. The poll by the Maagar Mohot Polling Institute comes just ahead of Netanyahu's major policy speech on Sunday that is expected to address a growing divide with Washington. U.S. President Barack Obama has said he wants to aggressively pursue Mideast peacemaking, and the halt of all building on land the Palestinians claim for their future state has been a key U.S. demand.

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Civil fights: It's the reciprocity, stupid
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Evelyn Gordon - (Opinion) June 11, 2009 - 12:00am

Many people are understandably puzzled by the refusal to freeze settlement construction. Binyamin Netanyahu has offered no explanation and, at first glance, it seems utterly illogical. Why would Israel court confrontation with its only ally merely to increase the almost 300,000 settlers by, at most, another few thousand?

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Palestinian civilians bear brunt of settler violence
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP)
by Djallal Malti - June 11, 2009 - 12:00am

Nestled amid rolling hills and with an eagle eye's view to the Mediterranean coast, Nahla Ahmed's house has all the elements of Eden... if it weren't for the Molotov cocktail-throwing neighbours. "We put bars on the windows after the first attack that came at 2:00 am three years ago," says the 36-year-old mother of four. "Now they come each week." Ahmed has the misfortune of living in a hilltop house on the edge of this Palestinian village, with the Jewish settlement of Yitzhar on a facing hill.

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Rights group warns of growing settler violence
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Erfat Weiss - June 10, 2009 - 12:00am

Palestinian farmers in the West Bank are paying the price for the government's efforts to evacuate illegal outpost in the region, data published by human rights group Yesh Din on Wednesday revealed. According to the organization, in recent weeks there has been an alarming rise in the number of attempts to uproot or damage trees in villages in the area, and the phenomenon is expected to expand if the security forces do not take action against the perpetrators.

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