Mapping the possible Netanyahu-Obama fault lines
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
by Ron Kampeas - (Analysis) April 7, 2009 - 12:00am

There are no fissures yet between the young Obama and Netanyahu administrations, but political geologists are mapping the fault lines. So far, two major potentials for quakes have emerged, both having to do with timing: One concerns the pace of negotiating Palestinian statehood; the other has to do with projections about when Iran's alleged nuclear program becomes irrevocably dangerous.

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Are the settlements an excuse not to make peace?

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    1. WHYS: Are the settlements an excuse not to make peace?



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    • Israel would forgo outposts to expand settlements
    ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
    December 31, 1969 - 8:00pm

    Israel is prepared to dismantle nearly two dozen wildcat settlement outposts in the West Bank in the next few weeks if the US drops its objections to continued building in existing, government-sanctioned settlements, Israeli officials say. The defence minister Ehud Barak will bring this proposal to senior American officials during his visit to Washington next week, the Israeli officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the proposal has not yet been officially submitted.

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    'Either peace or settlements'

    Will Middle East peace talks falter again over Israeli settlement building?

    Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, refused to extend a freeze on West Bank settlement construction, yet he has repeated his calls for Palestinians to participate peace talks.

    After an 18-month hiatus, direct negotiations between the two camps restarted earlier this month, under the watch of Barack Obama, the US president.

    Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, said on Sunday that Israel must decide between "peace or settlements".


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    The never-ending evacuation
    ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
    by Nehemia Shtrasler - (Editorial) December 31, 1969 - 8:00pm

    Maoz Esther is an extremely flexible outpost. In effect, it's part of the unwritten agreement between the settlers and government. Every time the Americans apply pressure, the police get orders, start moving their equipment, and hundreds of policemen evacuate the tiny outpost. Their lives at risk, they dismantle four tin huts, two tents and one wooden building containing toilets and showers.

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    ATFP Advocacy Director Joins APN Policy Director at Hill Briefing

    On Monday September 27, ATFP Advocacy Director Ghaith Al-Omari joined Lara
    Friedman, Director of Policy and Government Relations at Americans for Peace Now, in
    a briefing for congressional staffers entitled "The Day After the Settlement Moratorium:
    Can the Peace Process outlive the Freeze?" The briefing was organized by 3D Security
    and held at the Rayburn House Office Building.

    Mr. Al-Omari explained the political and concrete challenges created by settlements in
    the face of reaching an agreed two-state solution. He expressed the opinion that the issue


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    Israel’s Top Court Orders Settlers to Leave Outpost
    ATFP World Press Roundup Article from
    December 31, 1969 - 8:00pm

    JERUSALEM — Israel’s Supreme Court on Sunday ordered a West Bank settlers’ outpost built on private Palestinian land to be dismantled by Aug. 1, rejecting a government compromise with the settlers that would have allowed them to stay put for another three years. The decision was much anticipated, because the panel of three judges who decided the case included the court’s conservative new chief justice, Asher Grunis, and because the case involved the politically explosive issue of moving settlers in the face of potentially violent resistance.

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    Barak to offer US compromise on settlements
    ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
    by Roni Sofer - December 31, 1969 - 8:00pm

    Israel will dismantle the 26 illegal outposts in the West Bank within a matter of weeks in return for the resumption of the 'natural growth' of existing settlement blocs. This is the offer Defense Minister Ehud Barak will present to the US administration during his visit to Washington next week. The deal was agreed upon in a late-night meeting Sunday between Barak and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

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    Freeze On Jewish Settlements Expires, Are Peace Talks In Jeopardy?

    September 27, 2010 -- Israel did not extend its moratorium on Jewish settlement construction on the West Bank as of the midnight deadline, putting Arab-Israeli peace negotiations at risk. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will delay his decision for a week whether or not to quit peace talks in order for the U.S. to step in and work out a compromise. KCCP's Airtalk host Larry talks with the Honorable Jacob Dayan and Hussein Ibish about settlements and the impact on peace talks.


    TAGS:

    Are the settlements an excuse not to make peace?

    BBC World Service - World, Have your say aired on Tuesday September 28, 2010.

    They're often cited as the biggest obstacle to peace in the Middle East and its taken just three weeks before the issue has caused major problems in the talks.

    The US has sent its Middle East Envoy to try and resolve the situation but have the settlements now become an excuse not to seek peace?


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