No resolution to U.S.-Israel tensions
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
by Ron Kampeas - March 29, 2010 - 12:00am


For Benjamin Netanyahu, the formula for resolving U.S.-Israeli tensions came in the form of a flow chart. The Israeli prime minister took the chart with him when he met with Obama administration officials and visited the White House last week, two weeks after Israel angered the U.S. administration by announcing plans for 1,600 new housing units in a Jewish neighborhood of eastern Jerusalem during a visit to Israel by Vice President Joe Biden. But the flow chart presentation didn't quite do the trick, and Netanyahu's relationship with President Obama remains on the rocks.


East Jerusalem house is a home divided
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Edmund Sanders - (Opinion) March 29, 2010 - 12:00am


A tiny brick house. A disputed neighborhood. And a Solomon-style court ruling that has placed two sets of strangers -- with nothing in common but hatred -- under the same flat roof. Since December, Israelis have resided in the front part of a house where Palestinians have long lived. All that separates them is a bedroom wall, a sealed door and, lately, the police, who visit regularly to break up the fights.


On Passover, Israel concerned over world standing
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
by Aron Heller - March 29, 2010 - 12:00am


Nearly one out of every two Israelis thinks the country's international standing is poor following Israel's most serious crisis with the United States in decades, according to a poll published Monday on the eve of the Passover holiday. As Jews around the world were making last-minute preparations for the spring festival — which marks the biblical story of the Hebrews' exodus from Egypt — a poll in the Maariv daily showed increasing concern following the open rift between the governments of the world's two largest Jewish centers.


Lo, the Mideast Moves
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Roger Cohen - (Opinion) March 29, 2010 - 12:00am


The passage of the U.S. health care bill is a major foreign policy victory for President Barack Obama. It empowers him by demonstrating his ability to deliver. Nowhere is that more important than in the Middle East. All the global mutterings about the “Carterization” of Obama, and the talk (widespread in Israel) of kicking the can down the road and so getting through the “garbage time” of a one-term president — that is suddenly yesterday’s chatter.


Ministers Reaffirm Jerusalem Stance
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Ethan Bronner - March 29, 2010 - 12:00am


Senior Israeli ministers have publicly rejected American demands for curbs on building in Jewish areas of East Jerusalem and other concessions to the Palestinians, indicating no imminent end to the rift between Israel and the United States. Benny Begin, a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s inner cabinet — which has met twice since Mr. Netanyahu returned from Washington last week — said Monday on Israel Radio that the status of East Jerusalem should be resolved in direct negotiations with the Palestinians, not in advance.


The Sons of Iran!
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
by Tariq Alhomayed - (Opinion) March 29, 2010 - 12:00am


It can’t be a coincidence that Hamas announced on Saturday its clashes with the Israelis in order to “deter Zionist arrogance and confront the occupation forces…and respond to the continued crimes of the ongoing occupation,” according to the Al Qassam Brigades statement, and at the same time Iran called on the Arab Summit in Libya to make tough decisions and “raise the alarm” to protect Jerusalem. The reason we say this can’t be a coincidence is because Hamas avoided responding to Israel for 14 months, so why now?


Rift Exposes Split in Views on Mideast
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Ethan Bronner - March 28, 2010 - 12:00am


When Israel announced new housing units for Jews in East Jerusalem at the start of a visit this month by Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu apologized for the timing and expressed regret at the embarrassment. Mr. Biden accepted his explanation, and the two sides seemed prepared to move on.


Fierce debate on Israel underway inside Obama administration
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Politico
by Laura Rozen - March 28, 2010 - 12:00am


Since Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s tense visit to the White House last week, an intense debate inside the Obama administration about how to proceed with Netanyahu to advance the Middle East peace process has grown more heated, even as Israeli officials are expected to announce they have reached some sort of agreement with Washington as soon as tonight.


After US dustup, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces growing challenges
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Ilene Prusher - March 28, 2010 - 12:00am


On the eve on Israel's Passover holiday, which celebrates liberation from oppression, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu looked so mired in his mounting, multi-faceted crises that he might need a miracle to survive them.


At a dead-end
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
(Editorial) March 28, 2010 - 12:00am


The announcement by Palestine President Mahmoud Abbas at the Arab League summit that he will not enter into indirect talks with Israel unless it backs down on settlements, coming immediately after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected anew international calls to stop settlement building in East Jerusalem, means that the peace process has hit a dead-end.



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