U.S. Fails to Persuade Israel on Housing Plan
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Helene Cooper, Isabel Kershner - March 25, 2010 - 12:00am

With Israeli officials saying that construction on a contentious Jewish housing project in East Jerusalem could begin at any time, President Obama seemed to have failed on Wednesday to persuade Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to give a written commitment to rein in any further building and to move ahead on peace talks with the Palestinians.

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Netanyahu departs Washington amid chill
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Politico
by Laura Rozen - (Blog) March 25, 2010 - 12:00am

Netanyahu departed Washington for Israel late Wednesday night, after what some sources described as a sometimes frantic last 24 hours of decision-making after a late night meeting with Obama at the White House Tuesday night.

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Obama, Netanyahu meet for hours as U.S. pushes for outreach to Palestinians
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Glenn Kessler - March 25, 2010 - 12:00am

U.S. and Israeli officials struggled Wednesday to resolve a sharp dispute over U.S. demands that Israel make goodwill gestures to lure Palestinian officials back to the negotiating table.

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Israel awaits word but signs are no deal with U.S.
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
March 25, 2010 - 12:00am

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ended a troubled U.S. visit on Thursday with no apparent resolution of a serious dispute with Washington over Jewish housing in occupied East Jerusalem. Despite his hints at potential compromise, Israeli commentators saw failure to secure a deal with U.S. President Barack Obama and said tensions with Washington appeared to have been left unresolved. Israeli President Shimon Peres, the country's elder statesman, said Netanyahu "apparently ... did not reach an understanding wih the United States of America".

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US presses Israel for Mideast goodwill steps
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Jeffrey Heller, Matt Spetalnick - March 25, 2010 - 12:00am

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was poised to end a troubled U.S. visit on Wednesday without settling a dispute with the White House over Jewish housing construction in occupied East Jerusalem. In a flurry of meetings throughout the day, U.S. and Israeli officials scrambled to put together a package of goodwill gestures that President Barack Obama hoped could persuade Palestinians to return to peace talks.

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Pride comes before the fall for Netanyahu
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
(Editorial) March 24, 2010 - 12:00am

When Israel ignores its strongest allies when they call its behaviour insulting, one wonders if the word hubris has a translation in Hebrew. Judging by his comments to the pro-Israeli lobby group Aipac, a shameless Benjamin Netanyahu went further earlier this week, taking the fight straight to Washington. Despite the US administration’s vocal denunciation of his decision to continue building settlements in occupied East Jerusalem and its warning that this would endanger much-needed peace talks, the Israeli prime minister did not budge.

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Historic change or just empty rhetoric?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
by Rami Khouri - (Opinion) March 24, 2010 - 12:00am

The important relationship between the United States and Israel is evolving in unpredictable ways. Their recent tensions are important for what they reveal about a more sophisticated and integrated American view of its Middle East policies, one which balances a firm commitment to Israel’s security against the problems Washington suffers from its excessive pro-Israel tilt and the continued Zionist colonialism in occupied Arab lands.

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Netanyahu's reluctant gift to Palestine
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Hussein Ibish - (Opinion) March 24, 2010 - 12:00am

The Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu is not being honest with his fellow Israelis by insisting that settlement building is compatible with a peaceful future between Israelis and Palestinians, or that the colonisation of occupied East Jerusalem "in no way harms" Palestinians and is not in any sense different from building in Tel Aviv.

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Amid Public Clash, U.S. Moves Israel Closer to Talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
by Nathan Guttman - March 24, 2010 - 12:00am

Under the klieg lights, American officials calmly repeated their opposition to key policies of Israel’s current government. Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu snorted defiance in the face of the American warnings. And nothing appeared to change. But as high-profile leadership meetings and major policy speeches fixated the public during the annual conference of American Jewry’s primary pro-Israel lobby, U.S. officials moved the ball steadily, if incrementally, forward toward substantive negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.

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No sign of breakthrough in Netanyahu-Obama meeting
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
March 24, 2010 - 12:00am

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Barack Obama met twice during a dramatic evening in the White House, but no signs emerged of a breakthrough in a row over Jewish settlements. Obama hosted Netanyahu in the Oval Office late Tuesday for 90 minutes, but with the two sides embroiled in their most testy disagreement in years, unusually did not appear before the cameras with his visitor. As an evening of intense diplomacy developed, Netanyahu then asked to consult privately with his staff, a US official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

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