Netanyahu failed to build bond of trust with Obama
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Aluf Benn - (Opinion) June 10, 2009 - 12:00am

Three weeks after Benjamin Netanyahu returned from his visit to Barack Obama, there is no longer any doubt that the prime minister has failed in his most important mission - to build a bond of trust with the U.S. president. The signs are clear: Israel and the United States are trading messages through speeches and headlines instead of through discrete consultations.

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Obama's Stance Infuriates Israeli Settlers
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from CBC News Today
by Mark Phillips - June 10, 2009 - 12:00am

Like everything else in the Middle East, there are two opinions of the work going on in Israel's West Bank settlements. The Palestinians call it Israeli expansion - another land grab. The Israelis call it "natural growth," to accommodate growing families. Whatever it is, President Obama says it has to stop. No more construction, period. "This construction violates previous agreements and undermines efforts to achieve piece," Mr. Obama said last week in Cairo. The settlers are furious, reports CBS News correspondent Mark Phillips.

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Netanyahu convinced Obama seeks clash with Israel to appease Arabs
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Aluf Benn - June 9, 2009 - 12:00am

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu believes that U.S. President Barack Obama wants a confrontation with Israel, based on Obama's speech in Cairo last week, Netanyahu's confidants say. In Netanyahu's opinion, the Americans believe an open controversy with Israel would serve the Obama administration's main objective of improving U.S. relations with the Arab world, the aides say. In his speech, Obama called for a "new beginning" in relations between America and Islam, and spoke at length about the Israeli-Arab conflict.

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U.S. Envoy Reassures and Presses a Wary Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Isabel Kershner - June 9, 2009 - 12:00am

President Obama’s Middle East envoy sought Tuesday to allay fears here of a fundamental breakdown in Israeli-American relations while alluding to abiding differences over Israeli settlement building in the West Bank and the formula for Israeli-Palestinian peace.

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Can Bibi and Obama make it work?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
by Ami Eden - (Analysis) June 9, 2009 - 12:00am

Those rushing to declare the fix-up between President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a flop after just one date should remember that a good relationship takes time. It’s been less than five months since Obama’s inauguration, and Netanyahu has been on the job for only two months.

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Netanyahu 'determined to show world he is not against peace'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Roni Sofer - June 8, 2009 - 12:00am

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will lay out his political stance on peace with the Palestinians in a speech at Bar Ilan University next week. The speech comes as a response to the historic address delivered by US President Barack Obama in Egypt last week, officials close to the prime minister said on Sunday.

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Poll: Obama's Policies Bad for Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Gil Hoffman - (Analysis) June 8, 2009 - 12:00am

A majority of Israelis believe that the Middle East policies of US President Barack Obama are not good for the Jewish state, according to a Dahaf Institute poll taken ahead of Obama's speech to the Muslim world. The poll of 501 Israelis, sponsored by Yediot Aharonot and representing a statistical sample of the population, found that 53 percent believed Obama's policies were not good for Israel and just 26% said they were good. The rest did not respond.

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Obama and Eisenhower: Some Parallels
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Yoav J. Tenembaum - (Editorial) June 8, 2009 - 12:00am

Historical comparisons have to be drawn with caution. No two events are identical. The pitfalls of historical analogy are as numerous as its benefits. However, comparing events in history can clarify and sharpen our understanding of the phenomenon under discussion. In this spirit, it's possible to draw a comparison between President Barack Obama's new policy toward Israel and that pursued by president Dwight Eisenhower and his administration from 1953 until 1957, when it also changed the direction of US policy toward Israel. The similarities are quite striking.

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Can Obama change Netanyahu?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News
by Linda Heard - (Opinion) June 8, 2009 - 12:00am

Speaking at Cairo University last week, US President Barack Obama put his credibility on the line. He told the Israelis to stop colony-building and to ensure that Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza have the opportunity to lead normal lives. Moreover, he stressed his commitment to a two-state solution, which he intends to make a personal priority, and equated the Palestinian cause with struggles against South African apartheid as well as the African-American civil rights movement.

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Davis: Does Israel Need Obama's Tough Love
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Times
by Lanny Davis - (Analysis) June 8, 2009 - 12:00am

I thought President Obama's speech in Cairo was eloquent and historic and could well be regarded as one of the most important foreign policy speeches ever made by any U.S. president. Some American Jews do not like Mr. Obama in his speech publicly calling out Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for refusing to support a two-state solution and a freeze on all settlements. My answer is: Why is this? Mr. Netanyahu is breaking not only with the policies of three prior presidents but of three prior Israeli prime ministers.

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