U.S.-Israel Relations | The American Task Force on Palestine

Netanyahu says close to deal with U.S. on West Bank settlement freeze
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
November 18, 2010 - 1:00am

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday he was close to reaching an understanding with the United States regarding a package of incentives Washington will offer in exchange for a 90-day construction freeze in the West Bank. Netanyahu's office issued a statement late Wednesday saying he hopes to conclude contacts with the U.S. soon in order to bring present the deal to his 15-member Security Cabinet - a group of senior government ministers split between pragmatists and hard-liners.

Israel refuses to freeze Jerusalem development
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
November 18, 2010 - 1:00am

Israel insisted Thursday it would keep building homes in disputed east Jerusalem, threatening to hold up a US-proposed settlement construction moratorium designed to renew deadlocked Mideast peacemaking. The contours of the moratorium deal, as presented by Israeli officials after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned from the U.S. last week, had appeared to be clearly agreed upon.

Israel, US locked over deal to revive peace talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman
by Amy Teibel - November 17, 2010 - 1:00am

Israel and the United States were in a standoff Wednesday over the terms of a Washington-proposed settlement construction moratorium meant to revive Mideast peace talks. Israeli officials had said several days ago that the U.S. had agreed that the 90-day moratorium would be the last time Israel would be asked to renew building limitations that expired in late September, after 10 months. They also said the renewal — like the earlier moratorium — would not apply to disputed east Jerusalem, the Palestinians' hoped-for capital.

Israeli official says US should free convicted spy
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman
November 17, 2010 - 1:00am

Israel's former attorney general says mistakes were made by both sides in the case of convicted spy Jonathan Pollard and that Israel's government should push the U.S. to free him. Elyakim Rubinstein did not go into detail about what he meant by mistakes. He made the remarks at a conference this week and they were broadcast by Israeli media Tuesday. Pollard was a civilian intelligence analyst for the U.S. Navy when he was arrested by FBI agents in Washington in 1985. He pleaded guilty to passing secrets to Israel and received a life sentence.

Netanyahu leaves ministers guessing over settlement freeze
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - November 17, 2010 - 1:00am

Confusion over a potential deal between Israel and the United States for a new settlement freeze continued Wednesday, with Prime Minister Netanyahu offering seemingly contradictory versions of talks between the allies. Netanyahu's bureau on Wednesday morning put out a statement denying that negotiations had brought up the prospect of extending the West Bank building moratorium to East Jerusalem. "Discussions with the United States to formulate a memorandum of understanding did not tackle the issue of Jerusalem," the statement said.

What can Israel, the Palestinians figure out in 90 days?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
by Ron Kampeas - (Opinion) November 17, 2010 - 1:00am

That’s the question Middle East observers are asking as Israel and the United States move closer to a deal on a 90-day West Bank Jewish settlement freeze to lure the Palestinians back to the negotiating table and revive peace talks. A seven-hour tete-a-tete last week between U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu resulted in new willingness by Netanyahu to press his Cabinet to agree to another settlement freeze.

AIPAC Gets Down and Dirty in Pushback Against Rosen Defamation Suit
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
by Nathan Guttman - (Opinion) November 17, 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 is now threatening to draw the lobby into new depths of mudslinging.

Obama's 'bribe' is last hope for peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Jonathan Cook - (Opinion) November 17, 2010 - 1:00am

Watching the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians drag on year after year without conclusion, it is easy to overlook the enormous changes that have taken place on the ground since the Oslo Accords were signed 17 years ago.

U.S. needs more than short-term dealmaking to aid Mideast talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
(Editorial) November 17, 2010 - 1:00am

PERSISTENCE IN the face of setbacks is a necessity in Middle East peace diplomacy. But the Obama administration's efforts to restart Israeli-Palestinian talks are less evocative of true grit than of desperate improvisation. According to reports in the Israeli press, the administration has now offered the government of Binyamin Netanyahu a gold-plated menu of incentives, including $3 billion worth of F-35 warplanes, in exchange for a 90-day renewal of a partial moratorium on West Bank settlement construction.

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