U.S. and Israel agree on key issues—for now
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
by Ron Kampeas - June 16, 2010 - 12:00am

The relationship between the Obama administration, the Netanyahu government and the pro-Israel community is ensconced on all fronts in “agree, for now” mode. On isolating Iran, everyone agrees -- and is pleased -- that the new set of U.N. sanctions will make it easier for the United States to enhance its own unilateral sanctions. Differences are looming, however, on whether the U.S. sanctions should carve out exemptions for countries that helped push through the U.N. sanctions.

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Obama’s Israel Policy Showing No Difference With Clinton-Bush
Media Mention of Ziad Asali In Bloomberg - June 15, 2010 - 12:00am

President Barack Obama clashed so often and so publicly with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during the first 16 months of his tenure that one Israeli newspaper reported Netanyahu believed Obama wanted a confrontation to improve U.S. ties to the Arab world. Then on May 31 came a moment that former U.S. Ambassador Martin Indyk says showed the real nature of Obama’s policy toward Israel: the deadly raid on an aid flotilla bound for Gaza that unleashed a torrent of international criticism and a move in the United Nations to censure the Jewish state.

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Robert Wexler, has Abbas given you any hope for the peace process?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Natasha Mozgovaya - (Interview) June 14, 2010 - 12:00am

During his visit to Washington last week, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas met with some 30 Jewish-American community leaders and former senior government officials at the Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace for a serious discussion on the peace process. Former U.S. congressman and Abraham Center president Robert Wexler, you hosted the encounter between the PA president and Jewish-American leaders. Do you see any hope as a result of the meeting?

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Israel Backs Panel to Examine Raid
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Isabel Kershner - June 13, 2010 - 12:00am

In an effort to dampen international criticism and stave off calls for an international inquiry, Israel’s cabinet unanimously approved a government-appointed commission with foreign participation to investigate the circumstances surrounding its deadly commando raid on a flotilla bound for Gaza in late May. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the move to set up an inquiry would demonstrate clearly “to the entire world that the state of Israel acts according to law, transparently and with full responsibility.”

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Rift between Israel and the United States: Flotilla incident didn't help
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Walter Rodgers - June 10, 2010 - 12:00am

It is difficult to recall a time when relations between a sitting US president and the Jewish state of Israel have been uglier. The embarrassing and deadly raid by not-so-crack Israeli commandos on Gaza-bound relief ships May 31 only further demonstrates how badly the American president is constrained because of his earlier jagged ties with the government of Israel and with angry, right-wing American Jews. The Obama administration was painfully aware of just how abysmal relations with Israel had become even before the confrontation at sea.

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ANALYSIS-UN rebukes of Israel permitted in US policy shift
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Louis Charbonneau - June 8, 2010 - 12:00am

Under President Barack Obama, the United States no longer provides Israel with automatic support at the United Nations where the Jewish state faces a constant barrage of criticism and condemnation. The subtle but noticeable shift in the U.S. approach to its Middle East ally comes amid what some analysts describe as one of the most serious crises in U.S.-Israeli relations in years. Under Obama, the United States seeks to reclaim its role as an impartial Middle East peace broker which critics say it lost during the previous administration of George W. Bush.

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In search of a leader
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Nahum Barnea - (Opinion) June 8, 2010 - 12:00am

On the day the prime minister headed on his needless journey to France and Canada, he hastily convened the forum of top seven government ministers for a semi-debate on the plan for stopping the Turkish flotilla. The ministers were asked to separately voice their views; as expected, each one of them said “amen” when his turn came.

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Israel's Gaza blockade: It works
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Jonah Goldberg - (Opinion) June 8, 2010 - 12:00am

The L.A. City Council wants to boycott the Grand Canyon State. When will the United Nations condemn Los Angeles for its callous pursuit of collective punishment against Arizona in retaliation for its immigration policies? To be sure, the boycott is mainly symbolic, but at least in principle the measure is aimed at hurting all Arizonans regardless of whether they support the "regime" in Phoenix. That's collective punishment.

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Biden says US looking at 'new ways' to address Israel's Gaza blockade
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Kristen Chick - June 7, 2010 - 12:00am

After meeting President Hosni Mubarak in Egypt Monday, Vice President Joe Biden said the US is looking for “new ways” to handle the situation in Gaza. “We are consulting closely with Egypt, as well as our other partners, on new ways to address the humanitarian, economic, security, and political aspects of the situation in Gaza,” Mr. Biden said after the meeting, according to a statement released by the White House.

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Washington Asks: What to Do About Israel?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Helene Cooper - June 7, 2010 - 12:00am

Some topics are so inflammatory that they are never discussed without first inserting a number of caveats. And so, when Anthony Cordesman, a foreign policy dignitary in this town’s think tank circuit, dropped an article on Wednesday headlined “Israel as a Strategic Liability,” he made sure to open with a plethora of qualifications.

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