Obama is letting Netanyahu off the hook
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Akiva Eldar - (Opinion) May 30, 2011 - 12:00am

Who said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hasn't changed? Who would have believed that the dear son of that combative family would utter indecent words like "Palestinian state" without spitting immediately after? Who would have dreamt that the prince of the right would even hint at the possibility that settlements would be evacuated? A veritable revolution. Instead of brandishing a thorn-filled club, Netanyahu is waving a fresh olive branch; he has learned that there is no better way to perpetuate the frozen peace process, expand settlements and increase his political longevity.

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J'lem unsure Obama moved EU against Palestinian UN bid
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Herb Keinon - May 30, 2011 - 12:00am

In Jerusalem’s post mortem evaluations of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s stormy visit to Washington, questions were raised about the wisdom of the US trying to prevent European support of a Palestinian state at the UN by first setting a return to the 1967 lines, with mutual land swaps, as the negotiation baseline. White House officials have said that one of the reasons why President Barack Obama unveiled this as the new US position in his May 19 speech on the Middle East was to better be able to convince the Europeans that there was no need to support a Palestinian state.

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On victory and arrogance
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Nahum Barnea - (Opinion) May 30, 2011 - 12:00am

The Congress press gallery is situated above the podium. One cannot see the speaker’s face, only his or her head. Yet the faces of the listeners, that is, members of Congress, can certainly be seen. Their enthusiasm over Netanyahu’s speech was genuine and sweeping.

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US wilts under Israel pressure
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News
by Patrick Seale - (Opinion) May 27, 2011 - 12:00am

US President Barack Obama's failure to stand up to Israel's land-hungry Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has bitterly disappointed opinion in the Arab and Muslim world. It has confirmed the belief that Washington has sold out to Israeli interests. Heralded as an attempt to extend a hand of friendship to the democratic wave in the Arab world, Obama's speech on May 19 was met in the region with indifference or derision. The Arab-Israeli peace process is now thought to be all but dead.

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Israel's PM and his US supporters engage in mutual back-slapping
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Omar Karmi - May 27, 2011 - 12:00am

As the first of what would be five protesters heckling the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech at a banquet in Washington on Monday night was summarily ejected from the Walter E Washington Convention Centre into a balmy night, the chant erupted in a deep baritone, echoing through the massive hall. "Bibi, Bibi, Bibi", the crowd bayed.

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Above the Fray: PM's stance jeopardized Israel's security
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Alon Ben-meir - (Opinion) May 27, 2011 - 12:00am

The supposed controversy over President Barack Obama’s speech on the Middle East, manufactured by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and enabled by the media, has been disgraceful and dishonest. Obama said nothing new about borders, just the facts – no border will ever be acceptable to the Palestinians that does not carve out a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza, the two territories carved out of the “1967 lines.” And no border will ever be acceptable to Israel that does not include the major settlement blocs.

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Poll: 12% of Israeli Jews consider Obama to be pro-Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Gil Hoffman - May 27, 2011 - 12:00am

US President Barack Obama’s attempt to portray himself as pro-Israel in a high-profile speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee on Sunday did not succeed, according to a Smith Research poll sponsored by The Jerusalem Post. The speech was intended to correct impressions that he was hostile toward Israel, which may have been reinforced by a landmark address about the Middle East that he delivered at the State Department last Thursday, and by a tense press conference at the White House on Friday with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.

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Netanyahu's U.S. trip helps strengthen hardline coalition in Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
by Adam Gonn - May 27, 2011 - 12:00am

When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned from a weeklong trip to the United States, he did so as a winner, both in his own eyes and the Israeli public's. "We found wide American support for Israel's basic demands," Netanyahu said Wednesday at a press conference after landing in Israel. According to a Dialog institute poll released on Thursday, 47 percent of the Israeli public believes Netanyahu's U.S. trip was a success, while only 10 percent viewed it as a failure.

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One more victory like that and Israel is done for
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Yoel Marcus - (Opinion) May 27, 2011 - 12:00am

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could have read the phone book at the Congress podium and received the same standing ovation. His speech used the advice Moshe Sneh gave to himself. The late MK wrote on the draft of one of his speeches "weak argument, raise voice."

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Netanyahu and the US congressional yo-yos
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
by Uri Avnery - (Opinion) May 27, 2011 - 12:00am

It was all rather disgusting. There they were, the members of the highest legislative bodies of the world's only superpower, flying up and down like so many yo-yos, applauding wildly, every few minutes or seconds, the most outrageous lies and distortions of Benjamin Netanyahu.

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