US stands to lose if peace process stalls
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News
by George S. Hishmeh - August 5, 2009 - 12:00am

Barack Obama is in a bit of a bind. Unlike any of his predecessors, this American president chose, admirably, to attempt to tackle the Palestinian-Israeli conflict shortly after taking office, realising that this long-festering issue has seriously damaged the US image in the Middle East. His first step, his choice of former Senate leader George J. Mitchell as his special envoy to manage the peace negotiations, was widely hailed as Mitchell played a key role in settling the Irish conflict.

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Obama wants peace, but will Congress pressure Israel?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
by Ghassan Rubeiz - August 4, 2009 - 12:00am

President Barack Obama is investing a good measure of his political capital in the Middle East without receiving, so far, much support from the United States Congress. Last week, the president’s special Middle East envoy, George Mitchell, was in Israel to work toward reaching a better understanding over limiting Israeli settlements. US Defense Secretary Robert Gates and National Security Advisor James Jones were also in Israel to offer assurances of continued American loyalty. But will Obama be pressured to slow down peace promotion by Israel’s supporters in the Congress?

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How Lieberman under fire could impact on the diplomatic process
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Herb Keinon - August 3, 2009 - 12:00am

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman sat on a couch in the foyer just outside of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's office mid-Sunday afternoon, apparently waiting for a meeting. The sight of the foreign minister waiting in the hall was uncharacteristic. People usually wait for Lieberman, not the other way around. It led one reporter, being ushered into another part of the building for a briefing on the morning's cabinet meeting, to guess: "It must be related to the indictment."

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Netanyahu plans meeting with Mitchell
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Roni Sofer - August 3, 2009 - 12:00am

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will hold an important meeting with US Mideast envoy George Mitchell at the end of the month, sources said. Top sources in Jerusalem confirmed to Ynet that Netanyahu will meet with Mitchell in London, as part of the prime minister's European tour in which he will also meet with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

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The chutzpah of Obama's Jewish critics
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Marc Stanley - (Opinion) August 3, 2009 - 12:00am

US President Barack Obama and his administration are making an unprecedented effort to reach out to the Jewish community. The president has made moving the Middle East toward peace a priority and has spoken of the "unbreakable" bond we share with Israel. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons "futile," and last week Obama had some of his most senior foreign policy figures meet with top Israeli officials - in Israel.

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US Mideast plan anticipated 'in matter of weeks'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Hilary Leila Krieger - August 3, 2009 - 12:00am

Despite recent Arab statements opposing US demands for confidence-building steps towards Israel, the US anticipates it will have the pieces in place to formally re-launch the Arab-Israel peace process in the coming weeks.

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U.S. to Push Peace in Middle East Media Campaign
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Mark Landler - August 2, 2009 - 12:00am

George J. Mitchell likes to remind people that he labored for 700 days before reaching the Good Friday accord that brought peace to Northern Ireland. So the fact that Mr. Mitchell has shuttled back and forth to the Middle East for the last 190 days without any breakthroughs, he said, does not mean that President Obama’s push for peace there is stalled.

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Free Marriage Counseling
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Thomas L. Friedman - (Opinion) August 1, 2009 - 12:00am

Israel and America are having one of those periodic marital spats they have had over the years, replete with “I-am-not-taking-any-more-of-your-guff” outbursts by Obama officials at American Jewish leaders, and, yes — it wouldn’t be a real Israel-U.S. dust-up without it — Israeli accusations that Jewish Obama aides are “self-hating Jews,” working out their identity crises by working over Israel. Having been to this play before, and knowing both families, I’d like to offer some free marriage counseling.

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Obama's evenhanded Mideast policy
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
(Editorial) July 31, 2009 - 12:00am

Evenhandedness usually is considered to be a positive attribute in diplomacy, but when it comes to the Middle East, many Israelis and their supporters see it as code for a pro-Arab policy. In that view, President Obama's insistence that Israel freeze Jewish settlement construction is anti-Israeli and a sop to the Arab street. That's wrong. Obama has committed himself to a comprehensive peace that would give Palestinians a state of their own and provide Israel with security and recognition from the wider Arab world.

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Rahm Emanuel: Self-hating Jew or peace-broker?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Natasha Mozgovaya - (Opinion) July 31, 2009 - 12:00am

When I ask a liberal American Jew involved in politics what he thinks of the claim that Rahm Emanuel is an anti-Israeli fifth column in the Obama administration, he laughs. "So, do they really think in Israel that Rahm Emanuel, David Axelrod, Dan Shapiro, Mara Rudman, Dennis Ross and the other good American Jews who work with Obama are a fifth column?" And then he says slowly, like someone explaining something to a person who has difficulty understanding: "How many times do you have to be told ... " "... that you love us?" I try to complete the sentence.

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