U.S.: Israel-Palestinian peace failures strengthening Iran
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Natasha Mozgovaya - April 22, 2010 - 12:00am

U.S. President Barack Obama's administration said on Wednesday that progress toward Middle East peace would help thwart Iran's ambitions by preventing it from "cynically" using the conflict to divert attention from its nuclear program. Drawing an explicit link between Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts and Washington's drive to isolate Iran, Obama's national security adviser, Jim Jones, urged bold steps to revive long-stalled Middle East negotiations.

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US Mideast envoy launching new mission--officials
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Mohammed Assadi - April 22, 2010 - 12:00am

A White House envoy planned to begin a new Middle East peace mission on Thursday that could determine whether Israel and the United States sink deeper into discord over Jewish settlement policy. George Mitchell's visit to Jerusalem and the West Bank will be his first since Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned a month ago from low-profile talks with U.S. President Barack Obama that underscored a rift between the two leaders.

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Israeli PM rejects calls for east Jerusalem freeze
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
by Amy Teibel - April 22, 2010 - 12:00am

Israel's prime minister has rejected U.S. calls to halt construction in disputed east Jerusalem, clouding a new peace mission by Washington's Mideast envoy. Benjamin Netanyahu's made the comments to Channel 2 TV, shortly after the arrival of envoy George Mitchell on Thursday. Netanyahu declared: "There will be no freeze in Jerusalem." Netanyahu was repeating a long-standing position, but the timing of the statement threatened to undermine Mitchell's latest efforts to restart peace talks.

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Obama offered Netanyahu a gentlemen's agreement on Jerusalem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Akiva Eldar - April 22, 2010 - 12:00am

If the Independence Day speeches delivered this week by Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin were any indication, Jerusalem Day came early this year. As they took the podium to vow that "united Jerusalem" would never be divided, both were no doubt aware that President Barack Obama's adviser, Dan Shapiro, was making his way to the region.

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Rightists: Burn effigies of Obama
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
April 22, 2010 - 12:00am

Every year, Israeli children gather around bonfires on the Jewish holiday of Lag BaOmer and burn the effigies of the enemies of the Jewish people. Perennial favorites in that category include the likes of Adolf Hitler and Saddam Hussein. Now, a Jewish rightist group wants to add US President Barack Obama to that list. Bentzi Gupshtain, a member of the outlawed Kahane Chai (Kach) party, said his organization is distributing hundreds of effigies of the US president for children to set fire to on Lag BaOmer May 2nd.

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ATFP Senior Fellow Addresses Israel-Palestine Peace Conference at CCSU
Press Release - Contact Information: Hussein Ibish - April 21, 2010 - 12:00am

ATFP Senior Fellow Hussein Ibish gave a keynote address at the second annual Israel-Palestine Piece Conference at Central Connecticut State University on April 16, 2010. Ibish told the audience that the context in which the conflict and the lack of peace was viewed in Washington had shifted dramatically in recent months, and had been gradually evolving over the past two years.


Round 2: Lauder vs. Obama
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
April 21, 2010 - 12:00am

A week after publishing an open letter in which he criticized US President Barack Obama, Ron Lauder on Wednesday continued to slam the American president and his Middle East policies. In an interview with the German Der Spiegel, Lauder - who serves as president of the World Jewish Congress and is considered a close associate of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu - said that Washington's criticism of Israel was "disproportionate." "The Obama administration is blaming Israel for the stalling peace process, but it is in fact the Palestinians which are opposed to negotiations," he said.

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Top Military Brass Concur: Mideast Conflict Affects All
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
by Nathan Guttman - April 21, 2010 - 12:00am

U.S. Army general David Petraeus might have shocked some pro-Israel activists when he openly spelled out the difficulties caused to American military efforts by the lack of progress in the Middle East, but fellow generals were not taken by surprise. “CENTCOM commanders had always said this was the No. 1 issue that affects everything that goes on in the region,” said Anthony Zinni, who headed the U.S. Central Command, known as CENTCOM, a decade before Petraeus.

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Strain in U.S.-Israel Ties Spurs Anxiety About ‘Dual Loyalty’
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
by Gal Beckerman - (Opinion) April 21, 2010 - 12:00am

Dual loyalty is an old and nefarious accusation. It has dogged Jews for centuries in any land where they settled and began to feel comfortable — the allegation that their allegiance is to their tribe first and not to their nation. America has been a haven precisely because the moments when this fear has swelled up have been few and far between. Even the existence of Israel, a country with its own set of national interests and its own wars and ways of dealing with them, has not created much of an issue for those American Jews who see themselves as both Zionists and patriots.

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'Palestinians will rule themselves' says Ehud Barak
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News
April 20, 2010 - 12:00am

Israel's Defence Minister Ehud Barak has said Israel must, eventually, allow the Palestinians to rule themselves. In an interview with Army Radio he said in the future there would be a separate Palestinian state "whether you like it or not". The interview comes as Israelis mark Memorial Day, commemorating Israeli soldiers killed in action. Mr Barak, a former top ranking soldier, leads the Labour Party which is part of the current government coalition.

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