Timing, noodging advance new push for Jonathan Pollard
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
by Ron Kampeas - November 22, 2010 - 1:00am

WASHINGTON (JTA) -- A combination of timing, diplomatic considerations and, above all, good old-fashioned noodging has culminated in the biggest push in years to free Jonathan Pollard. Insiders associated with the push, which resulted last week in a congressional letter to President Obama asking for clemency for the American Jew convicted in 1987 of spying for Israel, say the main factor was one man: David Nyer, an Orthodox activist from Monsey, N.Y.

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Palestinian Leader Insists on Halt to Settlements
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Isabel Kershner - (Analysis) November 21, 2010 - 1:00am

JERUSALEM — The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, said Sunday that any American proposal for restarting Israeli-Palestinian negotiations must include East Jerusalem as part of a complete halt in Israeli settlement building. It was not immediately clear whether Mr. Abbas’s position, which is consistent with Palestinian policy, would scuttle a proposed deal that the Americans hope will lead to resumption of the negotiations. In the past the sides have found ways to surmount such difficulties.

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With settlement deal, U.S. will be rewarding Israel's bad behavior
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Daniel Kurtzer - (Opinion) November 21, 2010 - 1:00am

It was only a little over a year and a half ago that the Obama administration demanded a freeze on Israeli settlements in the occupied territories, including even the "natural growth" of existing settlements. At the time, the administration called settlement activity "illegitimate" and appeared ready to go to the mat with Israel to show just how strongly the United States believed that settlements impede peace.

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Netanyahu: No settlement freeze vote without U.S. offer in writing
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - November 21, 2010 - 1:00am

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told lawmakers on Sunday that he had not yet received a written draft from the United States over a proposed package of incentives in exchange for a freeze on West Bank construction. "We still have not received from the Americans a written summary of the principle understandings," Netanyahu told eight MKs from his Likud party, adding that he would not bring the offer for cabinet vote until he saw the proposal in its entirety.

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Israel, U.S. struggling to conclude settlement pact
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
November 19, 2010 - 1:00am

Talks between Israeli and U.S. officials aimed at reviving Middle East peace negotiations have hit snags over incentives promised by Washington to persuade Israel to resume a freeze of Jewish settlement building. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu unveiled the U.S. inducements to his cabinet last weekend and appeared hopeful the ministers would back plans for a temporary halt to building in the occupied West Bank to overcome a hurdle to the peace talks.

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Fired AIPAC staffer tells Haaretz: I had no choice but to sue for defamation
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Natasha Mozgovaya - November 19, 2010 - 1:00am

A former AIPAC staffer who was dismissed for allegedly "mishandling classified information" told Haaretz on Wednesday that he had been left with no choice but to see the pro-Israel lobby for defamation. The U.S. Jewish community has been scandalized by the details of the increasingly dirty lawsuit, brought forth by Steve Rosen. Rosen was sacked by the America Israel Public Affairs Committee in 2005 after he and fellow staffer Keith Weissman were charged with "mishandling classified information" and passing sensitive information to Israeli diplomats and journalists.

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Editors Notes: Didn’t we used to be on the same side?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by David Horovitz - (Opinion) November 19, 2010 - 1:00am

Earlier this month, in an op-ed for The New York Times marking the 15th anniversary of the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin, former US president Bill Clinton told the tie story. Again. The story, often repeated, that shows a Rabin so focused on the important things of life, so “utterly without pretense” as Clinton put it, that he never quite came to terms with this merely decorative article of clothing.

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Stealth Power
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Yaakov Katz - November 19, 2010 - 1:00am

When the gray-haired man entered the Lockheed Martin aircraft assembly plant in Fort Worth, Texas, last May, the workers thought he was just another corporate executive. His suit, tie and slightly British accent seemed to fit the mold. The man was then given the opportunity to do something that most visitors do not have when visiting the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) assembly line – sign his name inside the cockpit of a plane.

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Israelis insist they have US backing to build in East Jerusalem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
November 19, 2010 - 1:00am

Israel yesterday insisted it would keep building homes in the disputed East Jerusalem area, threatening to stall a US-proposed building moratorium aimed at reviving peace efforts. Despite Washington having agreed to exclude the eastern part of the city from the 90-day moratorium, according to Israeli officials, it had still not sent a detailed letter on the understanding. Palestinians want building to halt in the West Bank and in Jerusalem, which they claim as their state. The US hopes a renewed moratorium will let Israel and the Palestinians work towards a deal on their future borders.

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AIPAC Gets Down and Dirty in Pushback vs. Defamation Suit Read more: http://www.forward.com/articles/133172/#ixzz15kcvW9Fh
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
by Nathan Guttman - November 19, 2010 - 1:00am

The espionage case against two senior officials of the pro-Israel lobby in Washington was dropped last year. But it has not been forgotten, and it’s now threatening to draw the lobby into new depths of mudslinging.

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