Embassy source: Doubtful US signed off on Israeli decision
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
September 4, 2009 - 12:00am

Hours after the angered Palestinian response to Israel's plans to authorize the construction of hundreds of new housing units in the West Bank before implementing a settlement freeze it became apparent that the plans were not necessarily approved by the United States. Kurt Hoyer, spokesman for the US embassy in Tel Aviv, said Friday Washington would be unlikely to accept anything "contrary to the spirit of negotiations they've been undertaking" and added it was "doubtful" the US had signed off on the Israeli decision.

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Bibi should not be overconfident
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News
by Patrick Seale - (Opinion) September 4, 2009 - 12:00am

On two key issues of Barack Obama's foreign policy - Palestinian statehood and reconciliation with Iran - Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's Prime Minister, has chosen to fight the American President. He has refused to bend to Obama's will, and is instead seeking to outwit and defeat him.

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Editorial: Mideast peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
(Editorial) September 4, 2009 - 12:00am

It was not just among Americans that Barack Obama raised great expectations when he won last year’s US presidential elections. In this part of the world, people believed that he would solve the Palestinian issue. Repeated signs from him that restarting and solving the Middle East peace process was a foreign policy priority reinforced that view. As a result, Arab and Muslim attitudes toward the US softened.

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U.S., Israel Grow More Confident of Talks with Palestinians
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Wall Street Journal
by Charles Levinson, Jay Solomon - September 3, 2009 - 12:00am

Optimism is growing within the U.S. and Israeli governments that direct peace talks between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government and the Palestinian Authority could begin as early as this fall, said diplomats involved in the process. Negotiations between the U.S. and Israel over freezing Israel's settlements in Palestinian territories remain contentious, and it isn't certain a compromise will emerge that will allow the three parties and Israel's Arab neighbors to move forward on other issues.

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Tell the settlers the truth
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
(Editorial) September 3, 2009 - 12:00am

At a time when the Obama administration is seeking a way to impose a construction freeze in the settlements that will be acceptable to both Israelis and Palestinians, in order to pave the way for the resumption of the political process, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seeking common ground with the settlers. According to the minutes distributed by the Prime Minister's Office after Netanyahu's meeting with the heads of the Yesha Council of settlements last month, the prime minister stated that, "We are all interested in the same thing," and then added, "But we must act wisely."

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At the expense of peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
by Michael Jansen - September 3, 2009 - 12:00am

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has put the Obama administration in an awkward position by demanding a total halt to Israeli settlement construction and expansion in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. He is simply echoing Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who initially called for a complete suspension of settlement activity, including completing, to accommodate “natural growth”, the 2,500 units under construction, and housing in East Jerusalem.

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Israeli moves give Blair hope of rebuilding political trust
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent
by Donald MacIntyre - September 3, 2009 - 12:00am

Tony Blair expressed optimism yesterday that Israel and the US would agree on a settlement moratorium sufficient to pave the way for the first political negotiations between Benjamin Netanyahu's government and the moderate Palestinian leadership. The international community's Middle East envoy was speaking after three days of talks with Israeli leaders including Prime Minister Netanyahu.

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US officials: Netanyahu at pivotal moment
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Yitzhak Benhorin - September 3, 2009 - 12:00am

WASHINGTON – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's envoys to US talks on the freezing of construction in settlements, Attorney Yitzhak Molcho and Brig. Gen. Mike Herzog, met US special envoy to the Middle East, George Mitchell, on Wednesday. The US State Department reported that it was a "good meeting," and that Mitchell will visit the region in the second half of next week.

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Israeli Obstacles to the International Conference
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al-Hayat
by Randa Takieddine - September 2, 2009 - 12:00am

The importance of the visit by the president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, to France on Thursday and Friday to meet French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner lies in the timing. The visit comes before Sarkozy takes part in the General Assembly of the United Nations on 12 September, and his meeting with the heads of the G-20 in Pittsburgh on the 24th and 25th of the same month.

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Hidden in Olmert Indictment Are Charges That He Swindled U.S. Jews
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
by Nathan Guttman - September 2, 2009 - 12:00am

Washington — The indictment against former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert has riveted Israelis with its allegations that the ex-prime minister took envelopes of cash from supporters for his personal use. But another aspect of the August 30 indictment, one directly relevant to American Jews, has been all but lost amid the fallout: The Israeli leader, prosecutors charge, bilked 17 prominent North American Jewish charities and pro-Israel advocacy groups for his own benefit.

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